Ramblings of the Doomed
by Indigo Tantarian
Summary: My epic tragedy about Rezo, Kopii, and Eris. Plus plenty of Zelgadis, Vrumugun, Zangulus, and Xellos too added in now! And so much more! It's funny at first but the atmosphere quickly turns gloomy and then allout sad. It's finished now, so go look!
1. Copies and Headaches

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this fanfic. All the characters and Slayers itself is owned by Software Sculptors.  
  
Author's Note: I started writing this a while back, so please review and tell me what you think of it. I realize that not everything's completely accurate, but it's just easier that way. And there is some out of character-ness, but it's good anyway, trust me! Please read and review!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 1: Copies and Headaches  
  
The great Aka Houshi Rezo was severely pissed off. After what seemed like the hundredth time the neighborhood brats had knocked on his door and probably stepped to the side that day, he had gone down into his lab and turned on some loud music so he wouldn't be able to hear the knocking, followed by snickers.   
'I have a spell to help me read,' Rezo thought, 'but I can't even tell where those bakas are, now that they've figured out that I can't hear them if they don't run. I haven't been out looking for a cure for my sight in too long. Maybe I should get an assistant… Or an attack dog to sic on those little pests!'  
***  
After a visit to the pound, numerous bites, a rabies shot, and a suspected case of mutant fleas, Rezo decided that he was not a dog person. So he called the Sairaag Tribune, the closest newspaper, and put an ad in the classified section:  
Wanted: Lab assistant.  
Assist one of the Great  
Wise Men of the Age!  
Must have good   
eyesight, interest in  
science, magical talent.  
Intelligence is a plus.  
'That should be what I'm looking for,' Rezo thought, satisfied. 'In the meantime, I should go get one of those cloning machines that those black magicians are working on, so I can make me some guinea pigs!'  
So Rezo made the long trek across the land through the vast clouds of mysterious swirling mist that seemed to follow him whenever he went out. Finally, he arrived at the sorcerers' tower. After much haggling and much more threatening, Rezo left grinning. He had arranged for a Copy Machine to be delivered to his house and he had also bought a manual telling him how to use the machine. He could read it while he waited for the machine to come.  
***  
A few days later, it arrived. Rezo cheerfully gave each delivery creature a silver piece. He hummed happily to himself as the creatures left, grumbling about his cheapness. A well-placed Flare Arrow sent them on their way faster. Rezo grinned as he went back down to his lab. He plugged in the machine and looked over the manual once more. He also spent a lot of time running his hands over the Copy Machine. If he was going to use it, it would help to know where things were first. There hadn't been any replies to his ad yet, and he certainly couldn't wait when all he needed was right here! He had considered asking a family member to help him, but that would probably be a bad idea. Most of the family felt uncomfortable around him. There was his great grandson, but he was a little young and very stubborn. Rather blockheaded, too, Rezo tended to think. He was always thinking about nothing but swordplay. No, Rezo figured he could manage quite well on his own.  
After getting acquainted with the machine, Rezo plucked a hair from his head. He put it in the cloning chamber, set the dials, and waited. He heard strange whirring noises, so he knew it was working. But after a minute, Rezo got so impatient that he sped up the timer, raising the power level to balance it out. The engine went into overdrive and stopped abruptly. Rezo eagerly opened the door. He heard the sound of hundreds of tiny feet and little high-pitched giggling emerge from the copy chamber. The little noises rushed past him, occasionally bumping into things and letting out high-pitched cries. He quickly crouched down and tried to grab one, but they were too fast. Finally, he managed to catch one after it bumped into his foot. The little thing felt human. It had robes that covered it neck to toe. The hair felt just like his! The face was the same too, but a bit rounder. It was slightly wet. The little Rezo-ling had started to cry at falling down and then being snatched off of the ground and lifted high up into the air. Rezo wiped his little counterpart's face dry, marveling at it. The copy forgot its sadness and Rezo felt it smile. It giggled and grabbed onto his hand, which was bigger than its whole body was. It hugged the hand for a minute, then scrambled on top of it, running up Rezo's arm and onto his shoulder guard. He turned his face towards it. The copy put its little hands on Rezo's face, feeling all over it and giggling the whole time. Rezo smiled at the little copy. "I was once as happy as you are, little one."  
The copy keeled over laughing, then sat up to say, "Ja!" before disappearing. Rezo jumped, startled. He heard all the other little copies, who had been running around the lab giggling, disappear with little 'Poof's also.  
"NO!" Rezo shouted in frustration. He could sense that all of the little copies were gone. "Why did that happen? I followed the instructions. 'Put a hair in, set the dials, and you'll have a perfect copy' it said."   
Rezo stood up, smoothing his robes a bit. 'Perhaps I should have left the dials at their advised settings…'  
So Rezo put another hair into the copy machine. He set the dials to their suggested settings and pushed the 'Start' button. He had to constantly stop himself from speeding up the process. He grabbed the instruction manual.   
"Let's see, how long will this take?" Rezo asked himself as he flipped through the book, searching for an answer. "Oh here it is. Let's see… What!? A whole HOUR!?" Rezo growled in frustration. He got a timer from a nearby shelf and set it for almost an hour. Then he stomped upstairs.   
While he was waiting for the Copy Machine to work, Rezo poured himself a cup of tea. As he was taking the first sip, the doorbell rang. Rezo expected that it was one of those annoying delivery creatures, come back for more money. Or perhaps someone had finally answered his ad in the paper! Rezo grabbed his staff and rushed to the door.  
"Good day," a slightly amused, self-important voice greeted Rezo as he opened the door. The voice was male, and the speaker had an odd aura about him. He was both young and old, both light and dark. And there was no way he was human.  
"If you have a moment sir, I would like to take the time to tell you a bit about the Great Following of Mairyuu Gaav-sama. Here, take these pamphlets. And if you think you don't have the time, I'm sure Gaav-sama could find it in his heart of hearts to allow me to feast on his internal organs.   
Rezo cringed back a bit, but then he scoffed at the man. "I'm already a priest, baka. I don't need your little cult. You're probably the only member, anyway."  
Rezo felt anger pouring off of the young man-thing. "Watch your mouth! You will be punished for that! What decrepit old god could you be a priest of?"  
"Cephied, so I'll thank you to leave me alone!" Rezo snarled. He felt a sudden blast of pain behind his eyelids. He staggered backwards, jangling his staff. He slammed the door shut in the fanatic's face and dragging himself back to the kitchen. He reached in a drawer, pulled out some soothing herbs, and put them into his tea. He sank into his chair, massaging his forehead with one hand and sipping tea with the other. By the time he had finished, the pain had mostly faded away.   
"Lord of Nightmares!!" Rezo exclaimed, "What the hell brought that on!? At least I got rid of that weird guy. He felt like the worst possible combination of ryuuzoku and mazoku."  
Suddenly, Rezo heard a chime from the lab. His unhappy face lit up in a smile. He ran down the stairs and quickly opened the Copy Machine. Instead of many little footsteps, he heard one set of much larger footsteps coming towards him.  
"Who's there?" Rezo heard his own voice say uncertainly.  
"It's… me. Umm… I'm Rezo. You're… me," Rezo said, awe-struck.  
"I'm you? But… How can that be?" asked the poor confused copy.  
"I used a copy machine to make a copy of myself so I could test some of the more questionable cures for my blindness on you, and if they work, I'll use them on myself," Rezo explained.  
"Then I'm just your guinea pig? And I'm not even real!?" the copy asked indignantly.  
"Err… Well…" Rezo started uncomfortably, "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way. But reality depends on your definition."  
Rezo sensed the copy frown. "Forget that! I won't do it. In fact, if I'm your exact copy, I should have your powers! Take this, bastard! Fireball!!"  
Rezo quickly threw up a shield spell. However, the spell fizzled out before it had gone two feet.  
"Nani?" both Rezos asked together. The copy then abruptly 'poof'ed out of existence with a strangled scream.   
"Damn! He was so weak that he couldn't even survive casting a simple spell! How can I make a stronger one?"  
So Rezo grabbed the Copy Machine's instruction book and a couple of other books on cloning, copying, and magical strengthening, and went back upstairs. Now that the excitement was over, he had a dull, throbbing headache. He made some more tea with herbs in it and took it to his bedroom. Since it was night, the room was rather cold. He shut the window and settled down with his cup of tea for a long night of research.  
  
*Japanese for beginners*  
baka – fool  
Aka Houshi – Red Priest  
Ja – Bye (as in Goodbye)  
Hai – Yes  
  
Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think and if I should continue! It gets better, I promise! Please review! 


	2. Kopiis and More Headaches

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or any of its characters. Software Sculptors does. How sad…  
  
Author's Note: Yes, this will have a plot! In a loose sense. Eventally. Beware of cuteness in this chapter, in massive amounts!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 2: Kopiis and More Headaches  
  
The next morning, Rezo was woken up early by the sound of loud pounding on his door. He threw on a fresh robe and went out to see who it was.  
A little girl's voice greeted him when he opened the door. "Hi, I'm Lina, I read your ad in my sister's newspaper, and I can do magic, look! Flare Arrow!!" the girl said, all in one breath. Rezo quickly extinguished the flames on his robes and turned his face down towards her. By the height the voice was coming from, this girl couldn't be much older than nine years old.  
"Err… That's very good, but… Umm… I think I may need someone who can read a little better," rezo said, trying to be polite.  
"Grr…. I'm THIRTEEN YEARS OLD! I CAN READ JUST FINE, BAKA!!!" the indignant Lina screeched.  
"LINA!!" a loud, older voice came from farther away, "You'd better not be bothering Aka Houshi-sama! If you don't go home right now, I'll make you sorry!"  
The little girl let out a tiny wail of terror and Rezo heard her run away sobbing, "I'm sorry, Sis! I'm so sorry! Please don't hurt me!!!"  
"Please forgive my little sister for her rudeness," the older voice said. "I'm Luna Inverse. I came to respond to your ad in Sairaag's paper. I can see as well as anyone, and no one's better at magic than I am."  
Despite Luna's obvious power, Rezo didn't like her at all. He had a feeling that if he weren't so old, dignified, and powerful himself, he'd be running away just as fast as Lina did. But he also didn't want to be rude to this frightening girl.  
"Oh, thank you very much. I haven't had many applicants yet. If you'll just leave your name and address with me, I'll get back to you about it," Rezo said, managing to keep his voice calm.  
"All right," Luna said, and she wrote down the information, handing the piece of paper to Rezo.  
"Thank you! Sayonara," Rezo said, shutting the door behind her. He breathed a sigh of relief, going back to his room and tossing the paper in a corner. Before he had fallen asleep last night, he came across a possible solution to his copy problems. It was the hair part that had to be improved upon. So Rezo traipsed back down into his lab. He fished in a jar and pulled out a small knife. He cut into his wrist, letting a few drops of blood fall into the copy chamber. He healed the cut and turned the machine's power on full blast and the timer for five minutes. As the machine whirred and rumbled, Rezo waited impatiently. With something as exciting as this, it was hard to wait for even five minutes, but he managed it somehow.  
The second the chime began to ring, Rezo threw open the door of the machine. A familiar sound met his ears. Hundreds of little footsteps and giggles rushed towards him. He frowned. "More mini copies?" he wondered aloud.  
The little voices slammed to a halt. "Copies?" a tiny voice to the right of him said.  
"Kopiis?" one still in the back of the machine asked.  
"Kopiis! Kopiis!!" They all murmered excitedly to each other. Then they all burst into shrill giggles and ran away.  
"The blood guaranteed that they wouldn't disappear immediately, but I guess they do need the full time to be the right size," Rezo mused to himself. He could still hear little giggles coming from all over the lab.  
Just as he was considering how to catch all the little self-names 'kopiis,' the doorbell rang. Rezo went upstairs, smoothing his hair into place.  
He felt a great deal of power coming from the other side of the door.  
"Hello..." said a light, uncomfortable-sounding female voice tentatively. "I read an advertisement in the newspaper and it said to come here. Are you... Aka Houshi Rezo?"  
"Hai, I am Aka Houshi Rezo," Rezo said. This girl wasn't scary like Luna, but she was very powerful.  
"Oh! It is an honor! I am Filia, a priestess of the Fire Dragon King, and --" she was cut off with a strangled gasp.  
"Is something wrong, Filia-san?" Rezo asked.  
"There... is some great evil here!" Filia cried panicking. "It's stronger than any mazoku I've ever heard of! It is... as strong as Cephied!" she wailed. Rezo's head suddenly exploded with stabbing pain. As Filia ran away shrieking, Rezo quickly pushed the door closed and staggered into the kitchen to make himself some tea with lots of herbs in it.  
"Why is this happening!?" Rezo groaned. He drank the tea and dragged himself into bed to try to get rid of the pain.  
Rezo had forgotten that he had left the door to his lab open. If he had been more alert, he might have noticed the sound of lots of little Rezos giggling as they pulled themselves up the stairs. If he hadn't been in such pain when he left the kitchen, he might have noticed that some little kopiis were merrily sneaking past him into the rest of the house. But he was writhing in agony in his bed, so he never noticed when hundreds of tiny kopiis set up residence all over his house. A few of them slipped out an open window, but most of them stayed in the house. Some of them stayed upstairs, but a greater percentage returned to the basement. They all found little places to live, under, behind, and inside of things. While Rezo slept off his most recent bout of pain, he gained an infestation of happy, mischevious little kopiis.  
  
*Japanese for Beginners*  
Hai - Yes  
Sayonara - Goodbye  
Aka Houshi - Red Priest  
Arigato - Thank you  
  
Thanks for reading! Please please please tell me what you think so far, and if I should go on! Arigato! 


	3. Kopiis and Eris

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story. The characters belong to Software Sculptors.  
  
Author's Note: Aren't the little kopiis cute!? Much more of them to come. And more people to be brought in.  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 3: Kopiis and Eris  
  
After suffering for an hour or so the night before, Rezo had succumbed to his exhaustion and fallen asleep. He woke well-rested and feeling much better. The headache was completely gone. He changed his robes and brushed his hair into place. He thought he heard some happy-sounding noises, but he figured it was probably just the neighborhood kids. That little Sylphiel girl who lived on the hill was always coming around, picking his flowers and laughing. Oh well. Rezo left his room and headed for the kitchen. When he instinctively tried to brush the door to his lab with his hand, he almost fell down the steps. He heard more giggling.  
'Oh no! The lab door! The kopiis!' Rezo thought, panicking. 'They escaped!'  
After his near heart attack, Rezo relaxed a bit. "Oh well, screw it," he said, resignedly. "They're so little, how much trouble could they be?"  
Famous last words.  
But never mind the red priest's ominous words. He had more important things to do.  
Rezo walked into the kitchen and made himself some toast. He shook a few little kopiis off of the handle of the utensil drawer and opened it. As soon as he did that, two more jumped in and started fencing with butter knives. Rezo frowned, and after getting his hand banged a few times, he snatched both knives and flung the kopiis off, slamming the drawer shut. He opened the refrigerator and heard quite a few shivering giggles run out. He picked up the butter and went back to the toaster just in time to hear the toast pop up. He picked up the toast, brushing off kopiis whimpering over newly-burnt fingers. "It's your own fault, you know," he told them. "Stay away from hot things. And my food."  
By the time Rezo had finished his toast, he was pretty sick of all the little kopiis. "Maybe I should open a pet shop and sell you," he mused to one who had climbed onto his hand. "Many people seem to like happy, annoying little creatures." The kopi giggled and started licking buttery crumbs off of Rezo's fingers. Rezo grimaced and flung the kopi across the room. It bounced off the window and landed on a chair, laughing harder than ever. "…Like ferrets. And children." He shuddered at the thought. True, he had had a child himself, but that had been a fluke. He had been too drunk to know better. He had never been close to any of his relatives, and certainly not at all paternal.  
The doorbell rang, and Rezo tripped over more than 30 kopiis on the way to answer it. "On the other hand, maybe I should just call an exterminator. Or open a new hunting season," he muttered.  
Rezo opened the door, and listened in dismay as a few kopiis chased each other out the door past his visitor. "May I help you?" he asked, slightly apologetically.  
"Oh… aka houshi Rezo-sama?" a youngish female voice asked. She didn't feel as powerful as any of the other applicants. But she obviously had talent, and Rezo had a good feeling about her.  
"Hai," he said, smiling. "Are you by any chance answering my ad in the Sairaag Tribune?"  
"Hai!" she answered excitedly. "My name is Eris. I… I've heard so much about you, aka houshi-sama!"  
"Um… arigato," Rezo said, rather uncomfortable at this hero-worshipping tone she took with him. "Do you meet the requirements I specified?"  
"Oh yes, they match me exactly!" Eris said. "I'm very good at white magic. And I've always loved science. I have great eyesight, too."  
"Well that sounds good," Rezo admitted. 'Certainly better than the others,' he thought to himself. "Tell me, what do you know about making kop - I mean copies of people?"  
"I've researched it as much as I can," Eris said, glad to have caught Rezo's interest. "My real specialty is making chimeras, though."  
"Chimeras. Really?" asked Rezo. "If I can ever get rid of all these kopiis, I might want to look into that."  
"Oh, but they're so kawaii!" Eris exclaimed, picking up one who had been playing with her boot. "Why would you want to get rid of them?"  
"They may be cute, but they're annoying as hell," Rezo said. "You can have any you catch. But I do need some to experiment on."  
"Oh?" asked Eris. "What are you experimenting on?"  
"I must find a cure for my blindness," Rezo explained in a flat voice.  
"Oh, yes," Eris said softly. "Please forgive me, aka houshi-sama. I wasn't thinking."  
Despite her thoughtlessness, Eris seemed like the best candidate so far. And who knows who he'd have to deal with next if he didn't hire someone soon. "It's all right. Just try to think before you act, Eris-san. Otherwise you may find you've blown up the house. And you may call me Rezo."  
"Then, does that mean… You're hiring me!?" exclaimed Eris, taken aback.  
"Hai, at least temporarily," Rezo said. 'If only to have an excuse to turn away those other weirdoes faster. She seems acceptable anyway,' he thought to himself.  
Eris squealed with glee and threw herself at Rezo, almost knocking him over. After much hysterical apologizing and more excited outbursts, Eris moved into Rezo's small guest room in the attic. As she moved her belongings up, she was accompanied by dozens of little kopiis, watching with interest and giggling in excitement. Now they had TWO people to play with!!!  
  
*Japanese for Beginners*  
Hai – Yes  
Aka houshi – Red Priest  
Kopii – copy (not really Japanese, but a Slayers term)  
-sama – lord or master (or dear)  
-san – Mr. Mrs. or Ms.  
Kawaii – cute 


	4. Eris and Kopii

Disclaimor: Slayers and its characters belong to Software Sculptors. I only own this story.  
  
Author's Note: From here on out, it gets a bit more serious. Not to worry, though! As you can see, there's still plenty of good material for comic relief. Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming, please!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 4: Eris and Kopii  
  
"You mean you didn't follow the instructions TWICE!?" Eris asked, dumbfounded. She loved Rezo-sama with her whole being, but he could be so dense and impatient sometimes!  
"Well… no," Rezo said uncomfortably.  
Eris sighed in frustration. They had tried some potential cures on the little kopiis she had caught. Some of them did nothing. One made the kopii turn green all over. One made the kopi grow to almost Rezo's size before popping and splattering kopii goo all over the lab. A few made the kopiis fall over dead. The few things that did allow the kopiis to open their eyes didn't do a thing to Rezo himself, aside from giving him the occasional headache. He still couldn't quite understand why he got the headaches from time to time, but he thought maybe Eris could figure it out the next time he got an enormously painful one. He had great trust in her abilities.  
"There's another spell we can try, but it won't work on these little ones," Eris said, indicating the kopiis who were climbing all over their enclosure. "We'll have to make another, and a big one this time. So that means using blood AND waiting the full time."  
"Okay. But I told you, the last big one I made would have killed me if it had had the strength," Rezo said. "It had a mind almost TOO coherent."  
"You just didn't know how to deal with it," Eris told him matter-of-factly. "You tried to reason with it as if it were a human. They're only copies, not real. They're not even animals."  
"But… It spoke like a human," Rezo protested.  
"Well, like you said, they're smart," Eris admitted. "They're copies of you, how could they not be? But they're still not human. Just let me deal with it, you'll see."  
"All right," said Rezo reluctantly. "I suppose."  
So they set up the Copy Machine again. Rezo gave himself a wide slash to the wrist, let some blood fall into the copy chamber, and healed himself while Eris set the dials. She set the timer for an hour and two minutes, just to be sure the new kopii would be the right size, and it would only be one kopii. That, combined with Rezo's blood, was bound to make a strong kopii. Maybe even as strong as the red priest himself! Eris shivered in anticipation.  
For some reason, the kopiis were very quiet today. It was as if they knew what was going on. They were still everywhere, but the once-common giggling and pitter-patter of little feet was almost non-existent. There was the frequent sound of soft murmering among the kopiis, however. Since they weren't running around, Eris took the opportunity to catch a few more to replace those killed by the 'cures.' Then she followed Rezo upstairs.  
Since Eris was curious, Rezo explained the basics of the reading and sensing spells he had cast on himself. To read, he ran his fingers along a line of words. This transmitted their meaning directly into his mind. He could also sense objects and walls and such that were in the same room with him. It was like a bat's radar system: it could tell him the size, shape, and location of objects, but not the colors, patterns, or details. In fact, he really had not the faintest idea what colors were. He had heard that grass and leaves were green, so he came to associate their smell and feel with the color green. It was the same way with red and himself. He had been called the "red priest" for years. But he really had no idea what red was like. He just assumed that he was red. Eris was at a loss for what to tell him. After all, how do you explain colors when the person you're talking to can't see them?  
Rezo, sensing her discomfort, smiled self-depreciatingly. "But I get along well as I am. Don't worry too much."  
"Maybe I could develop some kind of empathy spell so you would see what I see," said Eris helpfully.   
Rezo smiled. "I tried something like that once, years ago. It was very disorienting. I couldn't make out anything, and it was so overwhelming, it made me dizzy. I need to be able to see out of my own eyes, not through someone else's."  
Eris was about to respond, but just then the chime down in the lab rang. Rezo and Eris scrambled to their feet and tore down the steps to the Copy Machine. All around them, the little kopiis were chattering excitedly.  
Eris got there first, so she opened the door to the Copy Machine. She and Rezo stepped back.  
The sound of Rezo-sized footsteps echoed out of the copy chamber, which was still buzzing fiercely. As the kopii stepped clear of the machine, there was a small explosion on the control panel, and Eris had to quickly put out the fire.  
"Was that the Copy Machine exploding?" Rezo asked, dreading the answer.  
"Yes, I'm afraid it was," said Eris. The little kopiis could be heard laughing nervously nearby. "Stupid kopiis…" she muttered.  
"Kopiis?" asked the big kopii.  
Eris saw that it was time to take matters into her hands. "Yes, that's what they are and that's what you are too. So don't get any ideas. Now get in there." She used her magic to gently shove him into a big cage she had set up earlier. It was warded so that no magic could pass or destroy it from inside, and the bars were made of steel so the kopii couldn't break them.  
"Here, put these on instead of those robes," Eris said briskly. "I don't want you or anyone else thinking you're Rezo-sama. If you live." She tossed in a red cape and a white robe to go underneath. She also snatched the outer parts of his shoulder guards away. Then she snagged Rezo, who was listening in wonderment, and went to the other side of the basement to start preparing the tricky black magic spell.  
The kopii was silent for a moment, feeling his new clothing before putting it on. "But if I'm not Rezo…" he said in a small voice, "…who am I?"  
"I told you, you're a kopii. Kopii Rezo. You'll answer to Kopii," Eris said.  
"Oh," Kopii said softly. "What are you going to do to me?"  
"We're going to test a dangerous cure for Rezo-sama's blindness on you," Eris said bluntly.  
"Wait, you never said anything about it being dangerous!" Rezo said. "You just said it was too much for the little kopiis to handle!"  
"Well…" Eris said, "It calls on the power of the Mazoku. It's dangerous, but it could work! I'm ready now. Are you, Rezo-sama?"  
"Uh… Hai. I suppose so," Rezo said hesitantly. They advanced on the trembling Kopii. Rezo began chanting a long, complicated spell while Eris drew symbols in the air and threw ingredients on them at the appropriate times. Eris watched as Kopii's closed eyes began to radiate blackness. He tried to clutch them , to keep the magic out, but Eris froze him in place with a spell.  
Rezo completed the spell with one final dramatic phrase. There was a loud clap of thunder, and blackness exploded from the cage. The little kopiis all dove for cover, crying and screaming. Kopii himself let out a terrified scream.  
  
***  
  
When the blackness cleared up, Eris was thrilled to see Kopii blink. "It worked!" she exclaimed delightedly.  
The world slowly slid into focus as Kopii blinked. He saw a young woman in white with short black hair. That must be Eris. Then he saw a man with purple hair sticking out on both sides of his head and red robes standing next to her. He looked down at the robes he had taken off at Eris's demanding. They were the same. Then this must be Rezo! 'It's me,' Kopii thought wonderingly. 'But it's not. I'm so confused!'  
"Okay Kopii, here's the deal," Eris said. "I'll let you out of there for now and you'll do exactly what he did to you. Got it? You try anything else and I'll make you sorry. Do it right and you can live. All right?"  
"Hai," said Kopii softly. "Just let me look at the spell once more before I do."  
"All right," Eris said. She opened the door to Kopii's cage. He walked out cautiously. He meant to go straight to the book, but he was captivated by Rezo.  
"So that's what I look like," he said quietly. Rezo turned his head longingly in his direction.  
"I wish I could see it too," said Rezo. Eris had never heard him sound so wistful and sincere.  
"Okay, come on," she said, hurrying Kopii along.  
Kopii went and picked up the spell book. He read over it to refresh his memory, but since Rezo had known it before Kopii was created, Kopii knew it too. "I'm ready," Kopii said. Eris was ready with her materials. Kopii didn't really like Eris at all, but he thought that Rezo deserved to see.  
So Kopii chanted and Eris drew symbols and threw things on them. The blackness gathered at Rezo's eyes. It went into him and settled for a moment. Rezo could feel it churning in his eyes. Then suddenly it shot out with a bang. The pain felt like it was splitting Rezo's head. He cried out in agony and collapsed to the floor, clutching his head. For a split second, his eyes glowed red through the closed lids, but then all traces of magic disappeared and Rezo was left with nothing but a pounding headache.  
"Damn you, you kopii!" Eris raged, throwing him back into his cage with magic. "What did you do to him!? Oh Rezo-sama, are you all right?"  
"Ergh…" Rezo moaned. "Wasn't him, Eris. It's happened before. Don't… know what it is. I need some tea with herbs…"  
"Of course, Rezo-sama," Eris agreed hurriedly. She helped Rezo up the stairs, locking Kopii's cage door tightly on the way up. She helped him lie down on his bed, then fixed him some tea with herbs. She added some sleeping powder to it, because she could see it was the only thing likely to help him. After he was asleep, she washed the dishes, picking the troublemaking little kopiis out of the sink periodically. Then she went up to her attic to read.  
  
***  
  
Down in the lab, Kopii tried to coax the little kopiis out of hiding. He finally managed to get some to come to him. He picked them up and stroked their heads, telling them how nice they looked. They giggled at him.  
"Do you think you could do something for me?" he asked. He pointed to a hand mirror on a low shelf. "Could you bring me that?" The kopiis who could see led the others, and they brought it to him. On top of it was a dusty old piece of paper. Kopii turned it over and looked at it. A color wheel! He stared at it, mesmerized, and quickly memorized the colors on it. He looked at the little kopiis with opened eyes. Purple eyes, with round black pupils. He then looked at himself in the mirror. One green eye with a round pupil, and… one yellow eye with a slitted pupil. 'A snake, cat, or mazoku eye,' Rezo's experience told him. 'Mazoku…' he thought, motioning for the little kopiis to put the mirror back, and folding the color chart up, putting it in his pocket for future reference. 'What AM I!?' The little kopiis only giggled.  
  
*Japanese for Beginners*  
Hai – yes  
-sama – lord, master, or dear  
mazoku – demon race  
kopii – copy (Slayers term, not Japanese)  
arigato – thank you  
  
Please tell me what you think! Review, review! Arigato!! 


	5. Golden Priest

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or its characters. Just this story. That's all!  
  
Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews! They make me so happy! Keep them coming, they make me want to post faster. MoroTheWolfGod, Zelgadis will come in 2 chapters from now. See, I have this written already, I'm just typing it slowly. I only have partway through chapter 8 written, though, so I'll see about putting more of him in here in the future. Also, I have a piece of fanart I made of the scene with Rezo and his chibis. http://indigo.1afm.com/images/rezokopiisdraw.jpg. More interesting attempts at a cure to come! And a short hold will be put on most of the sad stuff. I promise though, by the time Zelgadis comes in, it'll be more of a sad story.  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 5: Golden Priest  
  
The next day found Rezo and Eris back in the lab. The captive Kopii watched from his cage, and the little kopiis ran around, giggling happily. They played tag around the furniture, under tables, and in and out of the strange equipment in the lab.   
The topic of the day was summoning. Eris and Rezo had both heard tales of the greatest sorcerers summoning demigods and demons to perform a task for them. Perhaps they could do the same!  
It would be a difficult thing to control properly. Eris studied the diagrams and practiced drawing wards for sealing the creature in a small space. Rezo was reading up on types of things that could be summoned. They had decided that a servant of the gods would be better, at least to start with, than a mazoku. Kopii was quietly giving all the little kopiis in the area sight. He found that it was hard to do more than a couple of big spells per day, but he remembered a very simple eye-opening spell that Rezo had tried once. And so, the power of the kopiis grew…  
Eris looked up from her practice in annoyance at the sound of the little kopiis squealing in glee. "Stop that!" she said sharply. "They're annoying enough without being able to see."  
Kopii looked at her. Rezo looked up from his book, a rather pained expression on his face.  
"And don't look at me!" Eris continued. "Your eyes are so creepy! Rezo-sama, can't we just get rid of him?"  
"No," Rezo said, in a firm flat voice. "We promised him he could live here. And besides, he might have a use later on. But… you said his eyes are… creepy? How so?"  
"They're scary!" Eris said, shivering a little. "One's green, and the other's yellow and slit-pupiled, like a mazoku's eye. It's… unnatural!"  
"But if his eyes are like that, then mine must be also," reasoned Rezo.  
"Oh no, Rezo-sama!" Eris said quickly. "The little kopiis who had their eyes opened with normal spells all have purple eyes. This one's eyes were probably warped by the mazoku powers called on in the spell we used on it."  
"Hmm…" Rezo 'hmm'ed, and went back to his book.   
The lab was relatively quiet for a while as Rezo read, Eris drew symbols, and Kopii tried a long-distance reading spell to see what Rezo was reading. Kopii found that while he hated Eris with a passion, he liked Rezo well enough. He could tell that Eris didn't like him either, though he didn't know why. She loved Rezo. And Rezo… well, Rezo tolerated him. At least the little kopiis were nice to him. They sometimes even brought him good things to eat or interesting things to look at.  
Rezo looked up again. "As far as I can tell, our best bet is a dragon," he said. "The Ancient Dragons were the strongest and wisest, but they were all killed. So the next strongest ryuuzoku is the Golden Dragon."  
"Oh, I think there's a clan of them in the Katahto Mountains!" Eris exclaimed. "That's not too far away. It should be easy."  
"Don't let that make you sloppy," Rezo cautioned.  
"Don't worry Rezo-sama," Eris said, blushing at her own eagerness. "I'll be careful." She thought she heard a quiet snicker from Kopii's cage, but when she glanced over at him he was just brushing some dust from the hem of his robes. She didn't want to embarrass herself further by saying anything.  
So Eris and Rezo both read about summoning and the Golden Dragons, then they did a practice summon, calling a random kopii from the attic into their magic circle. They held it there for a short time before letting it go. It squeaked and ran away in fear. Kopii caught it and calmed it down.  
Rezo and Eris took a short lunch break, grabbing some sandwiches to replenish their strength before going back downstairs. Eris grudgingly gave Kopii a couple of sandwiches, which he took and ate gratefully. He was fed two or three times a day, and he knew enough to appreciate every time. He fed bits of the crust to the little kopiis. They were a bit quieter than usual today, but not as quiet as they had been the day Kopii came into existence. When he was finished, he sat back and watched the beginnings of the summoning.  
Eris drew a large six-pointed star. She drew a circle around that, and drew some mystic binding symbols. Rezo, who could sense the shapes, placed a large black candle at each of the star's points. He lit them all at the same time with a spell so that they would all burn at the same rate and the same time.  
Clanging his staff, Rezo began to chant the spell. The air was thick with magical energy. A glowing shape appeared in the magic circle. As Rezo finished, a bright light flashed, making Eris, Kopii, and the little kopiis have to cover their eyes. In the middle of the circle, a handsome middle-aged looking man with long blond hair wearing light tan robes appeared. He looked mildly annoyed.  
"Why have you brought me here, human?" the golden dragon in human form asked.  
Rezo stepped forward. "Please, ryuuzoku-sama. I have been blind since my birth. I have tried everything to unseal my eyes. I would be eternally grateful if you could help me."  
The dragon regarded him for a moment. "I am Milgazia, priest of the Water Dragon King," he said after a moment. If you will allow me to step outside of this barrier, I will see if I can help you."  
"Should we…" Eris started to say. Rezo nodded, and they removed the warding spell. The symbols on the floor glowed and disappeared. Milgazia stepped out towards Rezo. Kopii and Eris watched in anticipation as Milgazia moved his hands in front of, and then over, Rezo's eyelids. Rezo held his breath. Milgazia frowned, then his eyes opened wide in shock.  
"What is it!?" Eris asked quickly.  
Milgazia coughed. "I am afraid that this is quite beyond me," he said, the eternal calm returning to his voice. "I have not dealt with this kind of… ailment… for over a thousand years. Even then, it took every dragon the Water Dragon King, and even the great Dragon God himself to overcome it."  
"Well couldn't you help him anyway? All of you?" asked Eris bluntly.  
"No. I'm afraid that is out of the question. There is no immediate threat at this moment and we cannot risk again what we risked then. You ask too much. Now, if you are finished, may I leave?" he said icily.  
"No! There has to be something you can do!" Eris pleaded, her voice raising to a shout.  
"Maybe you shouldn't make him mad," Kopii said quickly before he thought about the fact that Eris never listened to him anyway.  
Milgazia turned to look at Kopii. Then he looked at Rezo. He looked back at Kopii. "It is too late. You have already incurred my wrath. Now none of you shall live to see the light of another day," he said in a perfectly calm voice.  
Rezo, Eris, and Kopii cringed back. The little kopiis, who had been mostly silent until then, burst out laughing all at once. Kopii desperately tried to hush them, and Rezo and Eris cringed even more. Milgazia did not move for a moment.  
The ryuuzoku priest turned away to look at the wall for a moment. "Only joking, of course," he said with a calm voice and a completely deadpan face.  
Rezo, Kopii, and Eris all facefaulted. The little kopiis laughed even harder. Some of them climbed into Milgazia's boots and robes.  
"Oh, err… sorry," Eris said, very nervous about this strange dragon-man. "They're… all over the place. We can't get rid of them."  
"Perhaps I could help you with this problem a bit," Milgazia said. "I will take these ones with me. I think that there are enough images of you inhere to satisfy anyone's vanity."  
Rezo and Kopii blushed, and the other kopiis giggled. Milgazia turned to Rezo. "It would probably be best for you if you ignored your plight. Sight is not everything. You might get more than you bargained for." With that, he teleported out, back to the valley he had come from with a few of the kopiis.  
"What a totally useless dragon!" Eris exclaimed angrily.  
"Please lower your voice, Eris," Rezo groaned. He had felt a growing buzzing in his eyes since Milgazia had arrived. When the ryuuzoku had touched his eyelids, it had turned into a pulsating, throbbing pain. It had lessened a bit after Milgazia left, but it was still painful and Eris's loud voice wasn't helping.  
"Oh Rezo-sama!" exclaimed Eris, more softly this time. "Do you have a headache again? I wish we knew why you get them."  
"It has something to do with the gods and holy things," said Kopii to Rezo. "They come when people mention Ceiph – the Dragon God. And when you're close to dragons."  
"Shut up Kopii!" Eris lashed out at him. "What do you know anyway!? You're just a kopii!"  
Kopii looked pained, but he straightened up in indignance. "I know everything your precious 'Rezo-sama' knows, so maybe YOU'D better shut up!" The two glared daggers at each other and anger could almost be seen pouring off of both of them.  
"Would you two PLEASE stop," moaned Rezo. "That's enough, both of you."  
"Oh Rezo-sama, I'm sorry," Eris said. "You just need to relax. I'm sure that's all it is. Come on, let me fix you dinner."  
As Eris led Rezo up the stairs, Kopii glared after them. "You know I'm right, Rezo. I remember each time it happened just as well as you do!"  
"Shut up, Kopii!" Eris called.  
"Please, just drop it, Kopii," Rezo said. "It's hard enough to concentrate without you."  
"You…!" Kopii called after them. The door shut behind them, leaving Kopii alone in the lab except for the little kopiis. "I… I thought you were on my side," he whispered. "I know what I'm talking about. You know I do!" The little kopiis crawled up his robes, chattering sympathetically.  
Kopii sighed and settled down on the floor of his cage. He looked over at some of the little kopiis snuggled close to him. "I liked him," he told them softly. "I really did. But I guess maybe now it's us against them, ne?"  
Kopii knew he would never find a human who would treat him as an equal, or even as a human. So he steeled himself to accept that fact as he fell asleep.  
  
*Japanese for Beginners*  
-sama – Lord, Master, or Dear  
ryuuzoku – Dragon Race (ryuu=dragon, zoku=race)  
mazuku – Demon Race (ma=demon/evil, zoku=race)  
ne – huh?, right?, don't you think?. Etc. 


	6. The Trickster Leading the Blind

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers. I don't own any of the characters from Slayers either, sadly enough.  
  
Author's Note: Wow! I got reviews! Thanks so much!! More interesting people to come. No, I really don't like Eris. I try to be fair to her, but I'm sure you can tell who I like and who I don't. I'll try to keep posting new chapters fairly often. And Moro, I'm making sure to write Zelgadis into the next chapter I'm writing. Remember, the more you review, the more I'll post!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 6: The Trickster Leading the Blind  
  
It was a trying time for Eris. She had been experimenting with new types of chimeras. Some were beautiful and strong. However, some of these combinations of creatures had failed. These were disgusting, lumpy, misshapen abominations that looked like they had begun to melt. These failed chimeras were not very smart. They only had half the intelligence of the stupidest of creatures they were made out of. The successes, on the other hand, were just as intelligent as the smartest of the creatures they were made from. The chimeras, including some of the stronger failures, were now kept in hundreds of vats and cages around the basement. There were whole rooms full of them. Quite a few were even kept in the lab, near Kopii's cage. They couldn't speak, but they often stared at him. It made him nervous sometimes. And of course, he annoyed Eris by watching her every move as she made the chimeras. He would occasionally ask a question. She would never answer, of course.  
Eris was also constantly annoyed by the little kopiis. They were responsible for more than half of the failed chimeras, she was sure. Whether they dropped things into her potions, fell in themselves, or just distracted her, she was at the end of her rope when it came to those little giggling pests, even if they did look like Rezo-sama.  
And speaking of Rezo-sama, Eris was worried about him. Lately, he seemed to be constantly in pain from a minor month-long headache. It was making him very irritable. He hadn't been going out to help people for a long time either. Eris really didn't know what to think.  
Rezo was in his study reading. He was getting more desperate to gain his sight. He knew that golden dragon had known something. How dare he withhold important information from the great aka houshi Rezo! The fact that he had had a nasty little headache for the past month didn't help things any either. Before, he had derived all of his pleasure in life from helping others. But lately, he had no altruistic urges at all. Any time he even considered going out to cure the ailments of the world, he was overcome by either a strange headache or a terrible lethargy. It was really starting to bother him, but he could never seem to tell Eris. Or even Kopii. He couldn't seem to stop himself from snapping at Kopii, so he usually tried to avoid speaking to him at all. The lack of control he had over himself lately terrifed him. What was even more frightening was the fact that he couldn't tell anyone.  
So to keep his mind off of the strange turn his life was taking, Rezo was looking up powerful mazoku in an old thick book. He thought that if the servants of the gods wouldn't help him, perhaps the mazoku could. He was looking at the five mazoku lords under Shabranigdu. One of them might be able to help him. Somehow, he had a good feeling about them.  
But which one to summon? The Hellmaster was the strongest, so it might be very hard to keep him contained. Chaos Dragon Gaav had been turned into a mortal long ago, and he was just as unpredictable and war-loving as the name suggested. He was not likely to be very helpful. Deep Sea Dolphin was said to be insane, so she probably wouldn't be much help either. That left Dynast Grausherra and Beastmaster Zellas Metallium. The author of the book hadn't known much about either of them, except that Dynast was associated with cold and lived at the north pole, and the Beastmaster was probably the weakest of the five and kept wolves as servants.  
After giving it some consideration and asking Eris's opinion, Rezo dedided that summoning the Beastmaster would be safest. And the book had said that although she was the weakest, the others still feared her. Perhaps she had some forbidden knowledge or power that could cure the incurable blindness!  
  
***  
  
So Rezo and Eris discussed it, and began setting up for another summoning. Milgazia had been the priest of the Water Dragon King, who was on the same level of power as the five mazoku lords. So the summoning and barriers would both have to be a lot stronger. This time, Eris drew a large pentagram on the floor with a circle and magic symbols around it. She put a large white candle at each point of the star.  
Since it was a mazoku this time, and he knew the name, Rezo had a completely different spell to chant. He had studied this before, but he had never tried it. There were some tricky intonations and pronunciations in this one, so Rezo was going over it carefully in his mind. One wrong tone of voice or mispronounced word could summon a completely different mazoku or even doom the summoner to eternal torment at the hands of a swarm of lesser mazoku.   
Kopii had been given the task of keeping the little kopiis out of the summoning area. He knew that with their short attention spans, it would be impossible to do anything to keep all the kopiis in the lab occupied for more than two minutes. He had gotten the kopiis obedient enough by now that if he whistled softly, a few of the nearest kopiis would come to him. If he whistled loudly, the lab's whole population of kopiis would come. So he whistled loudly and waited a moment. He had been planning this for quite a while now, and last night he had cast a small spell to keep them all from getting much sleep. Being tired made the kopiis more obedient, so they all came to him.  
When all the little kopiis were inside his cage, Kopii put up a barrier going all over the bars so that they couldn't get out. He had told Eris about these plans yesterday, and she had agreed to allow him to do that. As long as he was meek and submissive towards her and Rezo, she didn't mind letting him do things occasionally.   
The little kopiis all climbed around searching for something new or a way out of the cage. When they realized that there wasn't one, they gradually all came back to Kopii to tug at his robes, look up at him, and ask, "Out?"  
"Sorry my friends," Kopii said, truly meaning it. "They're doing some dangerous summoning today. They don't want you to get in the way, and I don't want you to get hurt. Why don't you sleep for a while?"  
So Kopii sat up to his ears in hundreds of sleepy little kopiis and watched the proceedings in the rest of the lab. Eris and Rezo seemed about ready to start. Rezo lit the candles all at once and began to clang his staff in an odd rhythm. The words of the spell were strange, even otherworldly. Rezo was very pleased with how it was going so far. The words and intonations were almost impossible to get right, but he was doing it almost easily. Blackness radiated from the pentagram, which itself was glowing red.   
Suddenly a very human-looking mazoku appeared inside the wards. Kopii saw the mazoku's eyes for a second before they closed again. They were a strange amethyst color.  
Eris and Rezo looked at the mazoku in confusion. This couldn't be the Beastmaster! It looked nothing like the sketch of her in the book. She was supposed to be female and smell like cigarette smoke and alcohol. This one was definitely male and smelled very faintly of coffee, but nothing else.  
The purple-haired mazoku grinned, not opening his eyes. "Ah, aka houshi Rezo! To what do I owe this pleasant intrusion upon my personal time?" he said cheerfully. All three watched him warily for a second, but then Rezo stepped foreward.  
"Err… forgive me. There seems to be some mistake. You see, we were trying to summon Beastmaster Zellas Metallium," Rezo said nervously. This could not be good. "I… umm… don't know how you got here instead."  
"I know!" the mazoku said gleefully, his grin growing even bigger. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Xellos, the mysterious priest, servant to Juuou-sama. We've been watching all three of you, especially you and your Copy over there," he said, nodding to Kopii in a friendly way. "You're both of great interest to us, although your lady-friend will play a small part also."  
"But we don't want to talk to you!" Eris burst out. "We summoned the Beastmaster! We don't want to talk to her lackeys!"  
Xellos's smile turned dangerous for a minute. "You should be glad that I came of my own accord, instead of letting you try to imprison Juuou-sama like this. She would have ripped out your throats and thrown you to the wolves," he said in a dark, slightly scary voice. Then his smile became happy again. "So, how can I help you?"  
"Xellos-sama, my eyes have been sealed shut since my birth," Rezo said humbly. "I have tried all sorts of black, white, and shamanistic magic to open them. I even summoned the priest of the Water Dragon King, but he refused to help me. Please, is there anything you can do to help me?"  
Xellos smiled and walked casually through the barrier Eris had drawn without a flinch, though it glowed brightly as he stepped across. Eris and Kopii stared, frightened at the obvious power in this mazoku. Xellos approached Rezo, opened his eyes, and stared intently at Rezo's eyelids. The red priest tried not to breathe.  
"Hmm…" Xellos said. "You've got a while yet." He then turned and walked over to the very nervous Kopii. "And even longer for you." Kopii was confused and wanted to ask Xellos what he meant, but the mazoku was already turning back to Rezo. "It was not a good idea to ask Milgazia-kun. He's an old acquaintance of mine. Very reasonable and intelligent, but he's just not the type who would be able to help you."  
"So you can help me?" Rezo asked eagerly.  
"Well…" Xellos considered, "…Nope!" he said, grinning. Rezo and Eris facefaulted.  
"Why not!?" Eris exclaimed.  
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" Xellos said cheerfully.  
"But…I…" Rezo started. "Can't you tell me anything?"  
"Actually, I can," Xellos said smugly. "Your eyes will open."  
"What!? When? How!" Rezo exclaimed quickly, getting excited. Kopii and Eris leaned foreward to hear.  
"Now that…" Xellos said. Everyone leaned as close as they could. "…Is something I can't tell you!"  
Everyone facefaulted. The sleepy little kopiis complained at Kopii's movement. Xellos looked over at the noise, and went to crouch down by the kopiis. A few came over to investigate him, and he let them play with his fingers. Kopii watched warily.  
"Oh, how kawaii!" Xellos said. "Rezo-kun, I'm jealous! I only have pictures of myself in my home. You have actual copies!"  
The kopiis perked up at this praise. "Kopiis!" they corrected him. "Kopiis! Kopiis! Kopiis!"  
"Ah, forgive me!" Xellos said immediately, sticking his fingers farther in to stroke their heads. They giggled, almost purring, at his attention. Kopii relaxed a great deal. He trusted the kopiis' judgment of people, and this Xellos seemed nice enough, despite being a creepy mazoku.  
Still playing with the kopiis, Xellos opened his eyes and looked up into Kopii's green and yellow eyes. "Of course, you have your sight already. But you'll have your chance with power also. After Rezo-kun, of course. But I'm sure you're used to that by now."  
"What do you mean?" Kopii asked. "What kind of power?"  
"Sore wa himitsu desu!" Xellos said happily.  
"Don't give him any ideas!" snapped Eris.  
Xellos turned to Eris, the grin still plastered on his face. "Oh, jealous of a kopii?" he asked. "Afraid he's better than you are? Well I'm afraid you're right!"  
Eris glared at Xellos, then at Kopii, with a murderous glint in her eyes. "Be quiet! He needs to know his place, and so do you! You're not so –"  
Rezo figured out where Eris's mouth was by the sound of her voice and quickly clamped his hand over it. "Please forgive my assistant. She's just a bit… over-zealous. But please, is there anything else you can tell me about gaining my sight?"  
"Oh no, I'm afraid not," Xellos said apologetically. "That just wouldn't do. I can only tell you to try something stronger. But you may want to get your affairs in order first." Xellos knew that the last statement would frighten most people. But he also knew that Rezo's obsession was so great that it didn't matter. Eris gasped softly and Kopii looked worried.  
"Well, I'm afraid that's all, minna. I may see you again," Xellos said. His grin widened. "Or I may not! Ja ne!" And he disappeared.  
  
***  
  
"Hmm…" said Rezo, already thinking about what he could try next. "He said something stronger…"  
"He also said to get your affairs in order!" Eris exclaimed. "Rezo-sama, whatever he was talking about could kill you! You can't! Don't even think about it! You remember how easily he passed through even our strongest barrier. We couldn't even handle him, much less something stronger!"  
"I don't care," said Rezo flatly. "I've waited too long to give up now. Besides, he said I would see. And he knew what he was talking about. The Lord of Nightmares helps those who help themselves, you know…"  
Eris and Rezo went upstairs arguing, without a second glance to Kopii. He shrugged slightly and took the barrier around his cage down. It occurred to him that since Eris had changed the barrier to allow spells to work on the inside, he might be able to blast his way out. But he was tired from working that prolonged spell and when he thought about it, his life here wasn't all that bad. He had food, shelter, and the other kopiis. The little ones had mostly run out into the lab, back to their usual hiding places. A few of his favorites had stayed, however. They snuggled into him, chattering in a happy sleepy way. The eerie chimeras watched as the caged kopiis slept peacefully.  
  
*Japanese for Beginners*  
mazoku – demon race  
kopii – copy (Slayers term, not real Japanese)  
Juuou – Beastmaster  
-sama – Lord, Master, or Dear  
-kun – friendly address to a male  
facefault – not Japanese. In anime, when a person falls over, usually on the face, with an "ack"-like sound.  
Sore wa himitsu desu – that is a secret  
Kawaii – cute  
Minna – everyone  
Ja ne – goodbye  
  
I have the next 2 chapters done, waiting to be typed, and I'm working on the 9th. Please give me some suggestions! More Zelgadis, I promise. He comes enters in the next chapter, Moro! Everybody's about to go crazy, so tell me what you want to see! 


	7. Insanity and Chimera

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or its characters. So leave me alone, lawyers!  
  
Author's Note: Rejoice, Zel comes in now! More Rezo, Kopii, and Eris as usual. You may be able to tell that this is becoming a Kopii story more than a Rezo story. But that doesn't mean he's going to leave completely or anything. The idea of Kopii being nice to Zel appeals to me too. But in the series, Zelgadis didn't know that Kopii even existed, did he? Hmm… I might do something with that, but he would have to think that Kopii was Rezo. I don't know if that would work, but I'll consider it. I'm bringing Vrumugun in in a while, and if I can think of a good way to do it, I'll try to get Zangulus in too. For now, lots of Rezo angsting and Eris acting weird. And more Xellos! Thanks for the reviews so far! I live on reviews! Please give me more!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 7: Insanity and Chimera  
  
Since it was getting harder and harder to control his own actions, and even thoughts these days, Rezo had decided to take Xellos's advice and set up his will right away. He hated to be so morbid, but the way things were going, he felt it would be a good idea. He had left his lab and property to Eris. This included all of the kopiis, which he was sure she wouldn't want. However, she was the only one who might take care of them, if only for his sake. It never occurred to him to leave anything to Kopii. The legacy he was making would be sealed away though. It was probably too dangerous to entrust to anyone. He split up his money and arranged for half of it to go to charities. The other half he had set up to be deposited into his great-grandson Zelgadis's bank account on the boy's 18th birthday with a note of explanation about what was happening, apologizing for anything he might do between now and then that he would have no control over. The one thing he did leave Kopii with was the decision as to when all this would come into effect, since he was likely to lose control before he died. He trusted Kopii to make any decisions as he himself would have made them, had he been completely sane.  
Eris was too distraught over Rezo's mortality and impending insanity to be pleased with what she had inherited. Kopii had mixed feelings about it, most of them bad. On one hand, Rezo had trusted him enough to give him a bit of responsibility. But on the other hand, he didn't actually GET anything. And although Rezo had been acting strange and mean lately, he had been nice to Kopii at first. Kopii knew from Rezo's memories that he had been wonderfully nice up until just recently.  
As for Rezo himself, he'd been doing some traveling lately. He had been visiting Zelgadis a lot, watching him from the shadows. The boy often went off alone to practice his skills with a sword. From what Rezo could tell, his great-granddson was really quite good for his age.  
Rezo had also been looking for cures elsewhere. He was also doing some intense experimentation in his secret lab deep in the ruined city of Old Sairaag. He was making his legacy there with the help of a bird-like low-level mazoku he had summoned and bound to the place. In fact, he had not been back to his home on the outskirts of the far side of town for a while. Before he left, he had gotten Eris to show him how to make chimeras. It was a rather complicated process, but after much practice, Rezo could do it well on his own. He was particularly interested in combining a human with something really powerful, like a mazoku or ryuuzoku. And if he could add something like a rock golem to the mix, the result would be unstoppable. He was pretty sure he could do that, although it would take some of his own life force to bind it all together. And it might take his mind off of his eyes for a while. He was having much better luck experimenting on difficult stuff away from all the little kopiis. A few had managed to follow him, riding along in his robes, but at least there weren't hundreds. Just a few were nice to have around for company and experimentation. Although his frightening condition kept him from enjoying much of a social life, when he was himself he wouldn't have survived without them around sometimes.  
  
***  
  
Today Rezo planned to go listen to Zelgadis's sword practice in a deeply forested swamp. He hadn't been feeling very well all week, so he hoped that it would calm the presence in his mind and make him feel a bit better. So he cloaked himself in an invisibility spell and stood by a tree well away from his young relative. The mist that always followed him around was there as usual, but the swamp itself was rather cloudy, so it was hard to notice. He heard grunts and swishes coming from Zelgadis as he sliced the air with his sword.   
Suddenly Rezo felt a 'blinding' flash of pain behind his eyelids. Just as suddenly, he realized that he was no longer in control of his own body. He began to move foreward against his own will. He couldn't turn back, stop, say anything, or even show fear on his face. His expression had twisted into a cruel, smug smirk. He was a prisoner in his own body! He was still fairly far away from Zelgadis, but in the distance he heard the boy say, "I want to be strong!"  
  
***  
  
Zelgadis was busy trying to remedy his own weaknesses when he heard a familiar 'ka-ching.' He hadn't heard it for years, but he remembered that it was the sound of his great-grandfather's staff. It had been so long that he didn't know what to think. He stepped back, in cautious respect. He saw Rezo coming towards him, seeming to disappear from one place and reappear in a closer one.  
"You want to be strong, Zelgadis?" Rezo asked him. Zelgadis wasn't sure how, or if, he should reply. But before he could think of anything to say, Rezo's hair and robes seemed to stretch out into long jagged tentacle-like things that wrapped around his body, arms, and legs. He gasped in shock as he tried to struggle. But it was no use. He felt like cold liquid metal, stone, or wax was being poured on him, spreading from the points he was being held by. He watched in horror as his skin turned blue. He felt the hair on his head grow hard and stiff. Any hair on the rest of his body just dissolved. He screamed as dark blue bumps grew all over his skin. Finally, Rezo let him go and he dropped to the ground on his hands and knees. He stayed there for a minute, breathing hard.  
Rezo was absolutely horrified at what he had apparently done. He couldn't stop smirking, although he felt like screaming and crying. Against his will, his mouth opened to say, "Well, Zelgadis-kun. It seems you owe me for this. Now that you are strong, you can finally be of some use to me."  
"N -- no!" Zelgadis exclaimed. He struggled to his feet and tried to run away, but Rezo mumbled a short spell and Zelgadis blacked out.  
As he cast the manipulation on Zelgadis's body, Rezo felt that Zelgadis's consciousness was no longer there. He also felt the dark presence in him trying to push his own mind out of existence. He realized that he couldn't fight it anymore. So he pulled the last shreds of himself together and hid himself away, cloaking himself in the far recesses of his mind. He could pay attention to the world around him without being detected, or he could shut everything out so he wouldn't have to witness what he was doing. For now, he shut himself in, sank into his own misery, and tried to conserve power. Perhaps if he could build up enough power, he could do something to stop this some day. Until then, he could only wait.  
'Rezo' commanded Zelgadis to return to one of his many buildings scattered across the world. This one was a forbidding-looking tower near Atlas City. It dated back to the War of the Monsters' Fall, and the top floor made a wonderful practice area for new spells and summonings. Eris didn't know about this place, so he would have time to work with Zelgadis for a while before she could meddle with him. And she couldn't bother him with all those annoying attempts to use white magic on his eyes. So Rezo, or rather, the evil force inside of Rezo, went to do some work with (and on) Zelgadis.   
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Eris was frantic with worry for her dear Rezo-sama. He was always either cold and distant or frightened lately. He had been gone a lot, also. She had tried to help him with things as much as she could, but he didn't seem to even want help. The stress this caused her had made her very unreasonable. She had been immersing herself in her chimeras and the kopiis, among other projects.  
Kopii was almost as unhappy as Eris was, but she was the cause of his unhappiness. Lately, she was always either treating him as if he were Rezo himself, or getting frustrated and screaming that he would never be as good as Rezo. He was really growing to resent her. He also resented Rezo for being so great, and so hard to live up to. But at least he had the little kopiis. He didn't know what he'd do without them. He had gotten plenty of opportunities to learn some new things from watching Eris. She was doing a bit more work with her chimeras. She had also fixed the Copy Machine and was creating small jewels that attached onto the forehead that could control every action of the people they were attached to. In her stranger moments, she was making a chair-like structure that would revitalize a person, human or kopii, and allow him or her to have greater power for a short period of time, although after that, the person would be completely exhausted. This kind of worried Kopii, because it was just his size. He knew that Eris must have some weird plan for him. He had no intention of helping her scheme, whatever it might be, but he also had a feeling that Eris's control gems were made to make him cooperate.  
Though he didn't know what Eris's plan might be, Kopii was doing his best to develop a counter-plan of his own. He had learned how to pick a lock with the help of the little kopiis, who were expert mischief-makers, and he had been trying to break the binding spells on the cage. No magic could pass THROUGH the cage, but maybe he could find something strong enough to break through it from the inside.  
As he was contemplating ways to break Eris's wards, an idea struck him. What about asking someone else for help? He remembered the way Xellos had simply stepped across a much stronger barrier. "Of course!" he exclaimed to the little kopiis. "Why didn't I think of that earlier! I'm sure Xellos could help me. But he might no tdo it even if he could… Oh well. At least he'll be someone different to talk to for a minute if he won't help me. I have nothing to lose. But I think I'll try to invite him instead of summoning him. He might get mad."  
Kopii used an astral projection spell to reach his mind out to find Xellos's mind. After a while, he found it. He felt surprise, then recognition. Then Xellos was standing beside the cage with a bemused smile on his face.  
"Ah, Kopii Rezo!" Xellos said cheerfully. "Hello again! It's been a while. The lab looks nice! The chimeras are starting to look better." The little kopiis, hearing his voice, ran over to investigate. They laughed, happy to see him again. He grinned at them, and knelt down to let some climb up onto his arms. Then he straightened up, with kopiis climbing all over him. "Now, Kopii-san. Is there something you wanted?"  
"Err…yes," Kopii said. Much as he had been starting to like the purple-haired mazoku, he was still unnerved by him. Kopii proceeded to tell Xellos what had been happening lately with Rezo and Eris, although he had a feeling that the general-priest already knew. "I know Eris is planning to do something involving me, and I want no part of it. I want to be able to escape quickly if I need to. Could you take down Eris's spells around this cage?"  
"Oh, what horrible things have been happening!" Xellos said, looking positively thrilled. "It's really too bad." The little kopiis exploded with giggles. Xellos's grin widened. "I suppose I can help you. But only if you don't try to leave. It's very important that you stick around for a while."  
"Well, all right," Kopii said, slightly confused. "I suppose you wouldn't tell me why, would you?"  
Xellos laughed, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, no. I'm afraid not. It won't be for a while yet, but just stay with Eris until the time is right. I think you'll know."  
Xellos touched the cage, and it glowed and gave a faint ringing sound. "All right, you can pass through it now," he said, smiling at Kopii. Kopii stepped out of the cage carefully and stood in front of Xellos.  
"Arigato, Xellos-san," Kopii said sincerely.  
"Oh, don't mention it," Xellos said. "Now if you'll excuse me, it's getting late and Juuou-sama would be very angry if I came back past my bedtime. Ja!" He grinned and vanished. The little kopiis who had been climbing on him all fell to the floor.  
Kopii knelt down to check on the kopiis. A few rubbed their heads, but they all giggled and ran off to play tag, just as happily as ever. "He's a weird one," Kopii said to a kopii who was standing on his shoulder guard. "But he seems nice enough."  
The little kopii giggled and grabbed onto his earlobe, climbing up onto his head. Kopii lifted an eyebrow at this, but he let the kopii stay in his hair as he re-entered the cage. Secure in the knowledge that he could now come and go as he pleased, Kopii fell asleep happily.  
Upstairs in her attic room, Eris was laughing in her sleep as a little kopii licked her nose and giggled.  
  
*Japanese for beginners*  
You'd better know what a kopii is by now.  
Mazoku – demon race  
Ryuuzoku – dragon race  
-kun – familiar term added to a male's name  
-san – a title, like Mr. Mrs. or Ms.  
-sama – lord, master, or dear. You decide what Eris means by it.  
Arigato – thank you  
Juuou – Beast(master?)  
Ja – bye (as in goodbye)  
  
Endnote: Oh no! Is Rezo already gone? Will Kopii get to leave? Will Eris get Rezo-sama back, or will she have to make her own? Or will she swallow a kopii in her sleep? Has Xellos wormed his way permanently into the plotline? Sore wa himitsu desu! Keep reading, and in order for me to post more, you must review! Arigato!!! 


	8. Identity Crisis

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or any of the characters therein. So nyaa.  
  
Author's Note: Well, of course this story is longer than that! I couldn't end like that. Although with the characters I've chosen, I'm afraid I'll have to end on a sad note eventually. I'll probably let the series pick up where I leave off. Any idea of how much time has passed in the story so far? I keep saying that time has passed, but I'm not sure how long it's been. Judging by Lina's age at the beginning, I'll have to keep the time frame to about 2 years. Short chapter today! Yay for me, sorry to you. But anyway, thanks for the reviews. Keep sending them! And please, please, please give me suggestions. I finished chapter 9 the other day, but now I'm stuck. So any and all ideas would be GREATLY appreciated. Please!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 8: Identity Crisis  
  
Much to his surprise, when he got back to his tower and put Zelgadis away for further manipulation, Rezo found that he was back in control of his body. He immediately began to do some work on a different subject. He was fairly sure that the evil presence taking over his mind, giving him headaches, and maybe even preventing him from seeing, was none other than Ruby-Eyed Shabranigdu. Maybe the Mazoku just didn't have as strong a hold over him as he had thought. It seemed like the presence was a lot weaker than it had been recently. But Rezo was not so naive as to think that he had beaten it. So he had decided that he would have to summon the Dark Lord's physical body and kill him. It would have to be at a time like this, after Shabranigdu had possessed him and he was weakened. In fact, right now would be perfect, but Rezo knew that he was nowhere near being ready to kill THE Dark Lord on a moment's notice. He would need time to plan and prepare. So Rezo set out to find a way to summon and slay a god, leaving Zelgadis's training to some lesser servants. Rodimus could work on the boy's swordsmanship with the help of Dilgear and the other animal-like chimeras he had created. And Zolf could teach him black magic. The boy had been dabbling in shamanistic magic also, but that and the white magic would have to wait until Rezo had time to teach them himself.   
  
***  
  
Rezo went back to Sairaag to pick up some important books and supplies. On his way, he ran into Eris, who was out shopping.  
"Rezo-sama!?" Eris exclaimed, overjoyed to see him again.  
Rezo turned towards her, startled. He had not expected to have to deal with her right now. Even now, he could feel the evil stirring inside himself. She would be hurt if she stayed near him. He would have to push her away.  
"Get away from me," he said coldly, frowning in disapproval but aching inside. "I don't want you to ever come near me again. Do you understand?" Then he walked off before she could say anything, or before he lost his nerve and apologized.  
Eris stood there, shocked, for a moment. Then she burst into tears and ran home, not caring that she had neglected to buy eggs. She hoped Rezo might be there, and that he would apologize, explain his harsh words, and promise never to leave her again.  
Kopii heard the door open and slam shut, and he heard Eris sobbing as she threw down her shopping bags. She ran ran around the upper parts of the house hoping to see Rezo-sama there. After a short while, she came down the steps, trying to hide her tears. Dozens of little kopiis trailed after her, chattering. Kopii looked at her questioningly.  
"H – has Rezo-sama been here?" she asked him piteously.  
Kopii shook his head. "Not since he left. Why would he come back and not tell you?" In actuality, Rezo had used a summoning spell to take the items he needed from his house. He hadn't wanted to face Eris again, or Kopii either.  
It was an innocent question, but it caused Eris to burst into tears again and run back upstairs. Kopii listened as she ran all the way up to her attic room and slammed the door shut.  
"Something must really be wrong," Kopii said to the other kopiis. "And it has something to do with Rezo. I wonder what it is."  
After a few minutes, Kopii stood up and let himself out of the cage. He went upstairs and silently put away the groceries. Then he fixed himself some ramen noodles and sat down to eat. When he was finished, he put the dishes in the sink and started back downstairs. Halfway down, he changed his mind and headed back up to the kitchen. He fixed a second bowl of ramen noodles and made a cup of tea with sugar in it. He quietly took them both up to the attic on a small tray. He knocked softly, and since she didn't say anything, he opened the door. Eris was sitting on her bed, hurriedly wiping her eyes. She brightened up for a moment until she realized it was only Kopii. "What do you want?" she snapped.  
"I… thought you might want some lunch," Kopii said.  
Eris looked confused. "Oh… well… Leave it here, then."  
Kopii nodded, set the tray on her desk, plucked a kopii off of the tray, and left silently. He really didn't like Eris at all, but because of a combination of Rezo's altruism and his own kindness, he really couldn't help being nice to her. Besides, maybe if he was nice to her, she would be nicer to him.  
  
***  
  
The next few days went on in much the same way. Eris stayed in her room and Kopii brought her food. He complied with her request that he keep his eyes closed when he was around her. Since Rezo had been so good at moving around sightless, Kopii had no problem with this. He knew that she just wanted to see her Rezo-sama in him, but he didn't know what else he could do. He wasn't a mean person, after all.  
One day, Eris surprised him by coming down to the kitchen with an armload of red cloth. "Here Kopii, put these on. The other shoulder guards should still be down in the basement." Kopii was surprised, but he did what she asked. Now if he closed his eyes, he looked exactly like Rezo. When he came back upstairs, he saw a strange glimmer in Eris's eyes.   
"Come on," she said, beckoning him towards the door. "The townspeople are starting to think Rezo-sama is gone forever. You have to make an appearance and heal someone. Just keep your eyes closed and follow my lead."  
"Oh… um, all right. I suppose," said Kopii as he was dragged out the door.  
Eris led him all over town healing people until he was so exhausted that he could barely walk. So she walked and he staggered back home. She seemed pleased with his performance. Kopii somehow managed to get down the steps without falling flat on his face, and literally passed out in the cage. Eris went out once more and made an appointment with a nearby artist before getting a bowl of rice and going to bed herself.   
  
***  
  
In the morning, Kopii awoke to the sound of Eris yelling down the steps that he should wake up. He yawned and went up the stairs. Eris barely gave him time to grab a bite to eat before dragging him to a painter's studio. He had to stand still in a set of Rezo's robes with his eyes closed for a couple of hours while his image was painted on a life-sized canvas. He was very stiff after this, and went right home after healing the painter's wife's broken leg in payment.  
"Oh Rezo-sama, the painting's a masterpiece! A perfect likeness," Eris said when they were back at home.  
"Umm… Eris," Kopii said uncomfortably, "You don't have to call me Rezo-sama when no one else is around."  
"But why not, Rezo-sama?" Eris asked. "I missed you so much. I love just saying your name!"  
Kopii recoiled slightly. He didn't like the odd gleam in her eyes. "Excuse me a minute, I think I'd better go change my robes." He fled to the basement and put on his own white robe with the red over it and the big round shoulder guards instead of the double pointed ones. The kopiis chattered at him, but he ignored them and shut himself back in the cage. He appreciated being treated better, but the way she acted as if he was the real Rezo disturbed him.  
Eris came down the stairs holding a silvery white headband. Kopii watched her suspiciously. She walked up to him, opened the cage door, and trapped him in a corner of the cage. He was really starting to panic now. "Here, let me put this on you," she said in a sweet, gentle voice. Before he knew it, the band was around his head. He felt something hard press into his forehead, and it seemed to embed itself into him. He felt it, and realized that it was one of her small rounded control gems. He tried to pry it off with his fingernails, but he couldn't.  
"Now you'll be Rezo-sama," Eris said quietly but fiercely. "I'll make sure of it!" She went off to the far side of the lab to work on her chimeras for a while.  
Kopii spent a good deal of time trying to remove the jewel from his head, but he finally gave up. It was one of the weaker ones, and it would only control him at close range when Eris was there to direct him, so he wasn't too worried right now.  
Before giving up entirely, he called to Eris, "Listen Eris. You know I'm really not Rezo, right? So why are you doing this to me?"  
"You may not be Rezo-sama now," Eris said from across the lab, "and you may never be as perfect as he is, but I'll make sure you get as close as you can being him. Now go to sleep, Rezo-sama. We have a busy day tomorrow."  
Kopii sighed in frustration, but he did lie down and the little kopiis gathered around him. He would keep trying, although it seemed hopeless. The man whose image he had been created in was starting to become a hateful figure to him.  
  
There wasn't much Japanese in this chapter. What little there was you should know by now. 


	9. Training and Fresh Blood

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or the characters in it. Leave me alone, lawyers!  
  
Author's Note: Rating raised for the general dismalness of life in the story. I'm running out of written chapters to type. Luckily, though, I had a burst of inspiration last night. You'll love the next chapter. I also had a dream that a kopii-sized "Mini-Me" from Austin Powers 2 (which I've never seen) was at my high school. I caught him and Dr. Evil started chasing me. Scary. But anyway, thanks for the reviews and keep them coming! I feed on reviews, especially praise, like Mazoku feed on negative emotions. Yum! And PLEASE send suggestions just in case I can't think of anything else! I'm trying to do one chapter a day and stay one ahead of the posting, but it'll be hard work.  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 9: Training and Fresh Blood  
  
The next day, Eris dragged Kopii back to the painter's house. "I want one more life-sized portrait," she told him eagerly. Kopii had flatly refused to change into Rezo's robes again. In fact, he had burned all the spare robes in Rezo's closet so that Eris couldn't make him wear them again. So Eris had grudgingly consented to letting him wear his own robes for the portrait. But she made him stand with his eyes closed as usual. After this, Kopii knew she would bring him around town to heal more people than he had the strength for again. He sighed and tried to stand still.  
  
***  
  
Unknown to Eris, Rezo was hard at work in his hidden, sealed laboratory in the ruins of the old city of Sairaag. Of course, Kopii knew about this place, but Rezo hoped and prayed that he wouldn't mention it to Eris. This work was far too dangerous to have her nearby. He didn't want her getting hurt. Resurrecting and killing Shabranigdu was not a task to be taken lightly. He would have to do it in the tower where he was keeping Zelgadis. The entire top floor was a super-powerful magic circle.  
Ah yes, Zelgadis. The boy was getting much stronger and more skilled. This was his backup plan, in case Shabranigdu took complete control. Zelgadis already hated him beyond all else. Rezo hoped that by the time he had completely lost control, the boy might be strong enough to defeat him. Then hopefully, Zelgadis could drive the Dark Lord out for good. But realistically, that was unlikely. So Rezo was counting on Zelgadis to have enough hate and power to kill him when the time came.  
In preparation for this, he and his servants were teaching Zelgadis everything they could. Rodimus was improving his swordsmanship with the help of Dilgear and the other animal-chimeras. Zolf was teaching him black magic. Rezo, when he had the time, was teaching the boy shamanistic magic, and a bit of white magic also. He learned very quickly, and was coming to trust and respect Rezo's servants. Rezo made sure that he never made himself seem trustworthy or reasonable, though. And Zelgadis hated him. This infinitely saddened the red priest, but it was as it should be.  
  
***  
  
Zelgadis put away his practice blade and shook out his tense hands. Finally, the day was over! He had been able to defeat each one of the animal-men who came at him. Even when they came in small groups, they were no match for him. He was almost beginning to appreciate the hard skin and heightened reflexes Rezo had given him. 'No!' he mentally chastised himself. 'Even if it's useful, how can I be grateful after all he's done to me?' Not only had the red priest turned him into a monster, but he had also proven himself indescribably cruel in his treatment of Zelgadis. He didn't even want to think about it.  
After he got over the fact that he didn't want to be here in the first place, Zelgadis was very pleased with his quickly-growing power. Rodimus was very skilled with a sword, and Zelgadis was learning a lot from the older man's vast experience. He was just as excited about learning magic from Zolf. Before this, he had been trying to learn some magic, but he couldn't find anyone to teach him. Zolf had told him that the greater the spell in black magic, the more likely it was to either go out of control or become addictive and take control of the user. So while Zelgadis would practice bigger spells like the awesome Dragon Slave, he vowed never to cast them outside of a controlled environment like the tower's top floor.  
Then there was his other magic training. Rezo was teaching him white and shamanistic magic. He was especially interested in the shamanistic magic, but he dreaded the lessons. Just being around Rezo filled him with fear and loathing.  
But Zelgadis had a plan. In a year or so, when he had learned all he could and gotten very strong, he would betray Rezo, who seemed to think he had the chimera under his complete control. Someday when Rezo deemed him strong enough to go out on a mission to get something important for him, Zelgadis would obey and get that thing, which would, no doubt, be very powerful. Then he would come back and kill Rezo when his guard was down. If the priest was too strong he might have to flee for a while, but he would kill Rezo. He was biding his time for now, but the day would come…  
Zelgadis sighed and walked over to his little alcove under the staircase. Oh yes, his time would come. But how soon? Zelgadis was afraid of what Rezo might do to him before then. Then there was the problem of trying to undo what had already been done. He was already trying to find a way to change his body back to that of a normal human. He probably wouldn't actually do it until after he had killed Rezo, but he wanted to find a cure now nonetheless. So the little bit of spare time he had was spent searching through old books for something, anything that might help! He lay down on the two benches pulled together to form his bed. They might seem hard to a normal person, but Zelgadis found that his new body was too hard and heavy for most normal beds. So the benches suited him just fine. He fell asleep, ready to resume his search for a cure early the next morning before his magic lessons started.  
  
***  
  
Eris was in the Sairaag Memorial Library stalking sorcerers. They swarmed to this place like gnats, and most were just about as powerful. She was pretty sure she had perfected her control gems. They worked flawlessly on the little kopiis. And the one on Kopii, though an older type, worked as well. But she needed to test the newer ones on a full-sized kopii. She had tried to make kopiis of Kopii, but they fizzled out and disappeared immediately. She could have made a kopii of herself, but she was afraid to cut herself as Rezo-sama had. And she'd be damned if she gave Kopii a chance to hurt her like that.  
So her best bet was to lure some random sorcerer to the lab and trap him there to be her permanent guinea pig. Now that Rezo-sama was gone, she would have to help herself, since Kopii obviously wasn't good enough to become Rezo-sama for her.  
Rezo had taught her to sense a person's magical power and general aura, so Eris was scooping out each sorcerer's powers as she saw them. 'Too strong… Too weak… That's… Is that a man or a woman? Never mind, I don't want to know! Ack, that one's perverted. Too stubborn… Too stupid… Oh, that one can't be human. Mmm, that one's kinda cute. He looks like… Rezo-sama…. No! Definitely not that one! Hmm…'  
Then Eris saw one over in a corner trying to avoid the crowd. He was tall, and cloaked in robes from head to toe. 'Ah ha… Not too strong or too weak. Seems like he's especially good at ice magic, and maybe a couple of other types too. He doesn't look like Rezo-sama, that's good. Seems suspicious, though…' The tall man didn't seem to be finding the book he was looking for. Eris saw her chance and grabbed it.  
"Excuse me, you don't seem to be finding what you're looking for," Eris said smoothly, walking over to him. The sorcerer looked up quickly, with his eyes narrowed. He was younger than she had expected. He had light brown hair that hung down around his face and naturally narrow bluish green eyes. He didn't speak, so Eris went on.  
"Would you be interested in looking through the library of the great aka houshi Rezo? The first visit is free of charge," Eris said enticingly. She wouldn't mind getting some money from this suspicious mage, but she could tell by the drab, worn robes he wore that he probably wasn't very well-off financially. And what she really needed was a test subject, not a donation.  
The young mage's eyebrows rose slightly. Then they lowered again. And who are you, who claims to give out free visits to the library of a great wise man?" he asked in a monotone voice.  
"Oh, I'm his lab assistant," Eris said. The man looked doubtful, so she pulled a piece of paper out of her dress and showed it to him. It was a formal statement signed by Rezo long ago. He had given it to her in case she needed to speak for him or pick up something for him.  
The sorcerer still looked hesitant, but he was obviously itching to look through Rezo-sama's books. "Very well," he said reluctantly.  
"Wonderful!" Eris exclaimed. It had worked! "Just follow me." So the unfortunate young sorcerer followed Eris back to Rezo's house.  
  
***  
  
"If you'll just sign this, please," Eris said, handing him a slip of paper and a pen. "So if you cause any damage to the materials, we know who to look for." All part of the ruse… Luckily, he signed without so much as a suspicious glance. She took the paper and looked at the name. "V… Varoomagin?" she said, trying to pronounce the strange name. She didn't even attempt to say his family name.  
"Vrumugun," he said, drawing out all the 'u's.  
"Uh… all right. Right this way," Eris said, laying the paper on the table and leading him towards the basement.  
Vrumugun took note of his surroundings. His suspicions were renewed when they passed by a room that was obviously a library and a study without stopping. But nothing prepared him for the sight that met his eyes when he got down to the basement. There was aka houshi Rezo, sitting in a cage, looking at him with both eyes open! This man who was apparently Rezo stared at him with wide eyes and violently shook his head. He looked repeatedly from Vrumugun to the stairs and mouthed 'Get out now! It's a trap!' But it was too late. Eris pushed him into a cage much like Rezo's with her magic and locked him in with both a key and magic.  
"That should do for now. I may put you in one of those big chimera tanks with some tubes for you later, since I only need your blood. Kopii, don't talk to him. Practice acting like Rezo and I'll let you out later," Eris said as she went back upstairs.  
"Are you all right?" Kopii asked the new arrival.  
"Are you truly aka houshi Rezo?" the young mage asked. "How did that woman imprison you? You should be far stronger than she is."  
"No, I'm not Rezo," Kopii said. "Don't let her fool you into thinking I am. I'm his k – copy. I'm just called Kopii. I was made to experiment on, but I guess Eris thinks she needs more. Who are you?"  
"I am Vrumugun, merely a sorcerer," Vrumugun said. "What does being Rezo's copy entail, exactly?"  
"Well, I have all of his memories," said Kopii. "And all of his powers. But I can't do very many big spells in a day."  
By this time, all the little kopiis in the area had come out of hiding and gathered around Vrumugun's cage to gawk. "More copies?" Vrumugun asked. "But they are so small."  
The kopiis muttered amongst themselves for a moment. Then one climbed up the cage to stare eye to eye with Vrumugun. "Kopiis," he said importantly. The other kopiis chattered in agreement. Vrumugun looked questioningly at Kopii.  
"Oh, um… yes," Kopii said, slightly embarrassed. "We're all called kopiis. They made it up themselves. I think they just misheard Rezo calling them copies, though."  
"Ah, I see," said Vrumugun. He sat down against the back of the cage, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his head in his arms on them. He closed his eyes, obviously not wanting to talk anymore.  
Kopii looked at him for a minute and then shrugged. He would want to talk more later, Kopii was sure. He was sorry that Eris had imprisoned another innocent victim, but it would be nice to have another person to talk to. The little kopiis were all meeting in the kitchen for a late-night game of tag, so Kopii slept alone tonight.  
  
No Japanese lessons for you today, children. Go review, tell me what to write about next, then go make your own kopiis. And send one to me! 


	10. Unknown Meeting

Disclaimer: I still don't own Slayers or any of its characters. I plan to buy the tapes when I have money, but I still won't own THEM. How sad…  
  
Author's Note: You guys are gonna LOVE this chapter. Kopii gets to go have fun. I took Moro's idea and used it very well. Thanks! I'm being mostly nice to him in this and the next chapter. But I have no idea what I'm doing after that one. Judging by Lina's age, I've got between 6 months and a year left in the timeline. So what else can I do? I really don't know. Hopefully something will come to me. Review! Tell me what I should do next!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 10: Unknown Meeting  
  
Eris was completely miserable. She was also quite drunk. Exactly one year ago today, she had come to Rezo-sama's house. She had thought that she would be with him forever, or at least for a few years. But he had left her before even a year had passed. She had moped around the house all day and irritated Kopii by returning to the basement over and over to stare at him. He didn't like it because he knew she was only looking for her beloved Rezo-sama in him. After halfheartedly eating a couple of mouthfuls of fried rice for dinner, she had gone out for a while. She returned shortly with two big bottles of sake, and had been drinking ever since. At first she tried to keep the little kopiis away, but after a while she didn't seem to care anymore. So all the kopiis in the kitchen, plus some visiting from other parts of the house, were stumbling around all over each other, giggling and hiccupping.  
After a short time, Eris called Kopii up. He came hesitantly, and stood awkwardly by the door. She launched into a mostly one-sided conversation with him, alternately telling him how much she loved him, her Rezo-sama, and screaming that he would never be anywhere near as great as Rezo-sama. This went on for the better part of an hour before she passed out in the middle of telling him how beautiful his eyelids were.  
By this time, Kopii was shaking all over. He quickly picked up the remaining sake, poured it down the sink, and threw away the bottles. The few little kopiis that were still awake mumbled in protest. "That's quite enough for you," he told them almost angrily. "You're far too small to be drinking that stuff." Then, leaving Eris asleep at the table, he stormed off down to the lab again.  
Kopii was greeted by the basement kopiis, who he ignored for the time being. Vrumugun, whom Eris had put in a huge tank full of clear syrupy stuff with tubes sticking out of him, stared at him. But Kopii ignored him, too. "Lord of Nightmares, I can't stay here another minute. I have to get away," he said to no one in particular. He grabbed a map off of a table and picked a random city. "Hmm… Atlas City. That's pretty far away. It'll do. Sorry Xellos, I know you said not to leave, but I just can't be here tonight."  
As he recalled the spell used to teleport form one place to another, a thought struck him. 'Rezo's well-known all over the area inside the mazoku's barrier. I don't want people mistaking me for him.' Kopii looked around for a moment. His eyes fell on a small comb and a thick green rubber band with some cloth wrapped around it. He grabbed these and combed his hair back into a low ponytail. He also took off those horrible shoulder guards and his red robe. Left with only the white dress-like robe, Kopii felt rather incomplete. Then he saw a mound of rather faced black cloth in the corner by Vrumugun's tank. Ah ha! It was the long cloak that had covered Vrumugun completely before Eris had taken it from him. Kopii picked it up and held it up to himself. On Vrumugun it had been a bit too long, but on Kopii it was almost too short! Still, it would fit.  
"Gomen, I'm going to borrow this for tonight," Kopii told Vrumugun. "It's a good thing you're tall." Vrumugun blinked, but he didn't look angry, and Kopii took that to mean he had the mage's permission.  
So Kopii put on the cloak, pulled the hood up over his head, and said goodbye to Vrumugun and the little kopiis before teleporting to Atlas City.  
  
***  
  
Teleportation was a rather powerful spell, so Kopii staggered a little as he appeared on a hilltop right next to Atlas City. But since it was the only spell he'd done all day, he was all right after a minute. Now that he was away form Eris for the first time in his own life, the excitement set in and Kopii took off running down the hill and into town as fast as he could, laughing. Rezo had not run since he was a child, when he had nearly gotten himself killed tripping over and bumping into things. It was such an exhilarating feeling! People stared at the tall, dignified-looking man racing down the hill, but he didn't care. As he got down where the people were milling about in the streets, Kopii slowed to a walk, making sure the hood stayed over his head.  
Walking through the crowd, Kopii was grateful for Rezo's abnormally tall stature. He could easily see over the heads of everyone else. People stared at him for his height and obvious attempts to conceal himself with the cloak, but he figured Vrumugun probably got that all the time. So the next person who stared at him, a young girl with black hair, got a flat, deadpan look that would have made the sorcerer proud. The girl flinched and quickly walked away, and Kopii laughed to himself.  
But as fun as it was to frighten people with his appearance and his Vrumugun imitations, Kopii wanted to be around people. Maybe even actually talk to them. So he let the crowd push him along to the town square, where there was some sort of festival going on.  
As he got closer, Kopii could see a banner proclaiming, "ATLAS CITY SPRING FESTIVAL." There were lots of big, long tables set up where people were eating, drinking, and talking. There were food and drink stands set up all over the place where people could get anything and everything edible, short of dragon cuisine. There was a band playing right next to the fountain in the middle of the square. The lead singer wasn't too bad, but Kopii thought the instrumentalists needed work.  
Kopii went to look at what all the stands were selling before deciding what to buy. He hadn't eaten much for lunch, so he was very hungry. He had taken a pouch of Eris's money with him just to spite her, and he was glad of that now.  
Finally, Kopii settled on smoked eel over rice. He had never tried it before, nor had Rezo, but it smelled good and sounded interesting. He also bought a soft, juicy orange fruit called a mango and some fresh lemonade. He looked around and finally sat down next to a young man with long blond hair who was having a heated discussion about swords with a smaller boy.  
The eel was very good. It was softer than any meat or fish he had ever eaten, but it tasted kind of like smoked salmon. The mango was deliciously sweet, but he got its juice all over his hands and arms. Luckily he wasn't wearing the glove parts of his white robe. He had to quickly go find a pump and wash the sticky juice off.  
When he returned to his seat, he found the blond cheerfully drinking his lemonade. "Hey!" he said, shocked that someone would do such a thing. The young man turned to him, smiling.  
"You just left your lemonade here! So I thought you weren't coming back and I drank it. It was great! Thanks! I feel a lot better now. Here, you can have the cup back," the youth said, handing Kopii the cup.  
Kopii opened and closed his mouth a few times, but in the end he just muttered, "You're welcome" and walked away.  
It was getting dark, so most people were starting to leave. Kopii definitely didn't feel like going home yet, so he vaguely followed a few people into a rather crowded bar. He stood uncertainly in the doorway for a second until he realized he was blocking the way. So he quickly went and sat down at the end of the bar. Next to him was a short boy wearing light beige clothing, complete with a cape, hood, and face mask. He didn't speak much, but he seemed to be there with the two men next to him. One had shaggy bluish-purple hair and a long shaggy mustache, and the other looked pretty old and was mostly bald with white hair and a beard. They would say something to the boy every once in a while, but he didn't seem to want to talk so after a while they gave up. Kopii ordered some red wine that Rezo had liked and watched them out of the corner of his eye.  
"To Zolf on his 30th birthday!" the old man toasted the blue-haired one. "May he never meet his betters in battle!" He and the boy raised their glasses. The old man took a deep swig, as did the one with the mustache, but the boy took only a small sip and set his glass down, then looked down at the bar.  
"Rodimus you baka!" the one called Zolf said. "My birthday was a week ago!"  
"Well, I suppose we could leave…" Rodimus suggested.  
"No, no, now that we're here we may as well stay a while, ne?" he elbowed the boy lightly. The boy gave him a look, then shrugged and went back to staring at the bar.  
Kopii's drink came. He thanked the bartender and took it. He was pretty thirsty, so he took a good-sized gulp of the wine as the bartender walked away.  
"Ggk… arg… bleh!" Kopii choked, gagged, and quickly spat his mouthful of wine back into the glass, spitting repeatedly to try to get the taste out of his mouth. "How can you DRINK this stuff!?" he asked the boy next to him. "Re… uh… my… brother used to like it, but I don't see how!"  
The boy turned to him, slightly annoyed. "I don't know. I think it's disgusting, myself. Why did you come here if you don't like what they serve?"  
Kopii was surprised at the boy's scorn. "Well I just wanted to get away from home for a while. I didn't expect an interrogation."  
"Oh, gomen," the boy said, blushing slightly. It could be the bad lighting or the smoky air, but his face looked strangely blue. "I'm here to get away from… home, too. It's my teacher's birthday." This man's voice sounded familiar. It was almost like Rezo's, to his horror. But it was much softer, lighter, friendlier, and a bit higher than Rezo's voice.  
"Oh?" Kopii asked interestedly. "What does he teach you?" This boy's voice sounded vaguely like Rezo's great grandson Zelgadis's voice. But it was much quieter, and more reluctant about life in general than Zelgadis had been, so it couldn't be.  
"He teaches me black magic, and the other one teaches me swordsmanship," the boy said.  
"Oh, really? I'm quite good at all kinds of magic myself. And I can hold my own in a fight too, if I have a staff. What's your name?" Kopii asked, thinking Rezo might have heard of this boy.  
"Zel –" he started to say. Then he realized that if anyone recognized him and saw what he had become, they would shun him. Not to mention the fact that Rezo might destroy them if they got to know him. "I'm… Zelid," he said, rearranging and removing some letters quickly. "Who are you?"  
"K…" Kopii began. Then he realized that 'Kopii' wasn't a name. It was more like a species. "Umm… I'm Kage," he said. It meant 'shadow' and was the first 'K' word that popped into his mind. Zelid nodded, seeming to accept it, although they each knew that these were both false names.  
"Do you use shamanistic magic much? That's the kind I'm most interested in," said Zelid. So the two discussed the finer points of shamanistic magic, from the Elemekia Lance to the amazing Ra Tilt to the astral plane in general. Kopii was suggesting ways to better focus the Elemekia Lance when Rodimus and Zolf cut in.  
"Sorry to cut your talk short Zel, but it's about time to go. It's midnight already!" Zolf said.  
"Oh. Gomen, Kage-san, I have to go," Zelgadis said, wishing he could stay longer. "Thank you for telling me what you did!"  
"You're quite welcome. It was a pleasure talking with you! I don't get out much, so I doubt I'll see you again," Kopii said regretfully.  
"It's all right, neither do I. Sayonara!" Zelgadis said to the tall cloaked man as he left.  
"Ja ne!" Kopii said. He left some coins on the bar and stood up to leave the dark, smoky bar himself. He bumped into someone, and the shorter person grabbed his sleeve, tugging him outside. He grabbed the other person's hood and pulled on it. It came down to reveal Xellos glaring up at him. "Xellos!" he exclaimed.  
"Why are you here?" Xellos hissed at him. He looked very angry. "I told you to stay at Rezo's house! With Eris! That was a stupid thing to do and it damn near got me in trouble. I'm supposed to be watching you! I take my eyes off you for a second, and you wander off!"  
Kopii took a step back from the fuming mazoku. "Gomen, Xellos-san. I… I just couldn't take being around Eris any more tonight. She always treats me like I'm either her 'Rezo-sama' or scum! I was just about to go back. I never meant to leave permanently."  
Xellos took a deep breath and sighed, calming himself. Luckily, no harm had been done. Well, it's all right this time, Kopii. I understand your need to get away. And you were as discreet as anyone could have hoped about your identity. Just don't EVER do it again. Please, for my sake as well as yours."  
"Of course, Xellos. I won't," Kopii said quickly. Xellos relaxed and smiled.  
"Arigato Kopii-kun. Now let's return, shall we?" Xellos grinned. He sent Kopii back to Rezo's house in Sairaag, and returned to his own home.  
Eris was still asleep on the table when Kopii appeared in the kitchen. He left her there and went down to the lab. He took off Vrumugun's cloak and put it back, but he left his hair as it was. He entered his cage, closed the door behind him, and went to sleep happily among the little kopiis.  
  
*More Japanese for Beginners*  
Sake – Rice wine. Pronounced "Sah – Kay"  
Gomen – Sorry  
Ne – huh? Eh? No? Don't you think? Etc.  
Sayonara – Goodbye  
Ja ne – Goodbye  
Arigato – Thank you 


	11. Reunion and Freedom

Okay, I've done enough disclaimers. You know perfectly well I don't own anything like Slayers.  
  
Author's Note: Well, not much happens in the next couple chapters. Then the action should pick up again. This one's a long one with a lot of Eris, Kopii, and Vrumugun. I'll be neglecting Rezo a bit for a while, but when the story picks up, he'll be around more often. Not for long though, sadly. Any ideas of what Eris and Kopii were doing between when Zelgadis leaves Rezo and Rezo dies?  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 11: Reunion and Freedom  
  
The day after Kopii's night out, both he and Eris slept late. Kopii slept better than he or Rezo ever had, but Eris woke up with the worst hangover she'd ever had. She used a special hangover cure that Rezo had taught her, but she still felt pretty horrible. She had stomped down the steps to find Kopii wide awake and smiling, with the little kopiis admiring his new hairstyle, though it was rather messy by now. She immediately ordered him to come out and sit down, and she viciously combed his hair back into Rezo's style.  
That had been a few months ago now. Eris had been making bigger, more powerful control gems. She made a new Vrumugun kopii to test each on. When she was satisfied that it worked, she would make the Vrumugun kopii climb into a tank much like the original's and fill it with the syrupy animated suspension liquid. She had plans to deal with them later, but for now there was a whole room pretty far back in the lab filling up with kopii Vrumuguns.  
Sealing the last tank with a sigh, Eris turned to find Kopii watching her from the other room. She walked over to round on him. "If you were half as great as Rezo-sama, you'd help me."  
Kopii scoffed at this. "You know I don't approve. So he probably wouldn't either. If you miss him so much, why don't you just go look for him?"  
Eris was about to tell him that it wasn't that easy, but then she stopped. Maybe it was! "Oh Rezo-sama, you're right! If I could sense this third-rate magician's power," she said, pointing to Vrumugun, "then I should be able to sense Rezo-sama's great power easily!" Vrumugun glared at her from his tank. Kopii raised an eyebrow. He wondered just how far gone she was, to be calling him Rezo-sama while talking about the original.  
So Eris stood in the lab and reached out with her mind, trying to find Rezo. After a moment of frowning, she turned to Kopii in annoyance. "I can't sense anything with you so close. Go wash the dishes and suppress your life force or something. You're in the way."  
Kopii gladly left the basement and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. He concentrated hard on suppressing the enormous aura of magic that always surrounded him.  
Eris tried again. She reached out… past Vrumugun and his kopiis… past Kopii… past all the random weaker magic users… There! She recognized Rezo's magical presence on the Astral Plane. It felt like Kopiis, but with something dark and powerful overshadowing it somehow. Eris cast a quick spell on the map in front of her to make a needle point from where she was to where Rezo-sama was. So unless he was sitting around in the wilderness or beyond the Mazoku Barrier, he had to be in Atlas City!  
Eris grabbed a few essential things from around the lab, shaking little kopiis out of and off of them. She paused, looking around. Her eyes fell on the tanks full of kopii Vrumuguns at the far end of the basement. She quickly walked over to them and cast a super-strong barrier spell around the whole room. She knew that meddling Kopii would try to talk to them, or even take them out, so this was a necessary precaution. The idea that he might try the same thing with the original didn't even enter her mind. She was far too preoccupied.  
Eris ran upstairs, and then up to her attic. She threw the stuff from the basement, along with clothing, some money, and a few personal items into a small traveling bag. Then she ran downstairs to the kitchen. Kopii had just finished putting the last few dishes on the drying rack, and he pulled the plug out of the sink's drain. Dirty water spiraled down the hole in the sink. He turned to look at her, remembering to close his eyes first.  
"R – er, Kopii, I'm going to find Rezo-sama. I think he's in Atlas City," she said breathlessly.  
'Atlas City? I wonder if I saw him when I went? No, I couldn't have. I would have known,' he thought to himself. But he told Eris, "He might not be in the city itself. I remember he had a tower not too far from Atlas City. Are you walking all that way?"  
"Well, I'd planned to Ray Wing my way there," said Eris. "It'll be faster."  
"I can teleport you to the city if you like. Then you wouldn't have so far to go," offered Kopii, eager to get rid of her.  
"Oh, would you? Arigato, Rezo-sama. You're so kind!" Eris said, her eyes shining a little too brightly.   
Kopii recoiled from her a bit as usual, but he nodded.  
"Now don't forget to go into town sometimes. And keep your eyes closed. Stop by the blacksmith soon, I had him make you a staff just like the other one. Oh, and if you were thinking of touching my kopiis or my jewels, don't. I put a barrier around the whole room so strong, you couldn't break it without making the house collapse. So you'd better not try. All right, I'm ready!" Eris said, smiling at the end. Kopii just nodded again and quickly cast the spell before she could think of anything else to say.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Rezo was in the base of the tower, teaching Zelgadis. Shabranigdu was gaining strength again, and he was getting bad headaches when he tried to teach his grandson white or shaman magic. So instead, he was teaching the boy other things. He had taught him to navigate by the position of the sun, moon, and stars. Then he had teleported Zelgadis out into the middle of nowhere and made him find his way back by himself. It was understood that the boy would not bother, or would not dare, to ask anyone for help.  
Rezo had also let Zelgadis see his research on some of the strange things people of the outer world supposedly used in the place of magic. For example, bombs would explode, but the worst they could do to people was blacken their faces and give them headaches. Guns were a bit stronger, but no match for any magic or close-range weapon. These were really very trivial objects, but at the moment Rezo couldn't do anything else.  
As he was exiting the tower after another useless lesson, Rezo was surprised to bump into someone trying to come in.  
"Rezo-sama?" and overjoyed voice greeted him. He cursed under his breath. Not Eris!  
"Eris, I thought I told you –" Rezo began. But Eris cut him off.  
"Oh Rezo-sama, I had to see you again. I miss you so much! Kopii's so horrible, not nearly as good as you. Please let me stay with you! I'll help you, Rezo-sama! Oh, please!" Eris begged, almost starting to cry. Rezo didn't like this at all. But between Eris and Shabranigdu, he was helpless to refuse.  
"All right," Rezo sighed. Eris was ecstatic. "But you cannot tell ANYONE who you see here, or what you see happen. Actually, I do have something you can do that will be very helpful to me. Follow me," he said as he led her back into the tower.  
"Zelgadis!" Rezo called. He had let the boy finish studying useless things early today, so he should still be around. He heard the boy approach him cautiously.  
"Eris, this is my great-grandson Zelgadis. I would appreciate it if you would teach him white magic. He has a basic background, but I'm sure you can teach him much more," the red priest told her. Then he turned to Zelgadis.  
"Zelgadis, this is Eris, my assistant. She'll be finishing your white magic training. I expect to hear that you learn quickly." Then he turned back to Eris.  
"I have things to do elsewhere. Zelgadis will get Rodimus and Zolf to show you around and work you into the schedule," he said, and vanished. He knew that if he tried to just walk out again she would try to come with him.  
Eris looked uncertainly at the strange young man in front of her. He certainly looked weird. And he was Rezo's… great-grandson? She had known that Rezo-sama was older than he looked, but how old WAS he!?  
"Come on," Zelgadis said shortly, turning to go find Rodimus and Zolf. This woman was way too clingy. And to Rezo, of all people! Disgusting!  
They found Zelgadis's other two teachers talking together on a wide landing halfway up the tall tower. Zelgadis explained the situation in as few words as possible. The one called Zolf said she could alternate magic lesson days with him, except when Rezo came.  
"How often does Rezo-sama come?" Eris asked.  
Zolf laughed. "Whenever he wants," he said.  
'Oh Rezo-sama,' Eris thought sadly. 'Will I ever get to be with you again?'  
  
***  
  
Kopii waited a few seconds after he sent Eris to Atlas City before leaping into the air for sheer glee and shouting, "She's GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" All the little kopiis giggled and gave answering shouts of, "Yay!" Kopii ran outside and skipped around the yard a few times in huge strides, stopping every once in a while to swing from a tree branch. Even though he had just cast a major spell, Kopii had way too much hyper energy to just sit still. He had to get rid of some. Some little kopiis had followed him outside, and were chasing after him, laughing.  
Finally, Kopii came back inside, still laughing with the simple joys of life without Eris. He let the kopiis back in, but a few wanted to stay outside. He let them. He went around opening every window and door in the house. Then he went down to the basement.  
"She's gone!" Kopii proclaimed happily to Vrumugun. The man in the tank blinked. Kopii took that to mean, 'That's good.' He examined the tank carefully, remembering what Eris had done to set it up. Hmm…  
First Kopii unplugged the blood-sucking and nutrient-feeding machine. Then he flipped a few switches to drain the syrupy stuff out of the tank. While that was draining, Kopii found Vrumugun's clothes and shoes lying in a box in the corner. He took it out and put it down next to the tank. Then he reached up to take the tank's lid off. Eris had to use a ladder to get to the top of it, and it was even a little too high for him. So he stood on a stool to lift the lid off and set it down against the wall. He reached down into the tank and tore the tubes off of Vrumugun's arms and back. He healed all the places where tubes had been when trickles of blood began to form.  
By the time Kopii was finished, the tank was completely drained. Vrumugun's muscles had atrophied a bit due to lack of use, but aside from this weakness he seemed all right. He pulled himself up to stand leaning against the sticky wall of the tank.  
Kopii smiled. "Come on, there's a shower upstairs." He cast a Ray Wing on the weakened, syrupy mage and brought him and his clothing upstairs to the bathroom. He set the box of clothes on the sink and set Vrumugun in the shower where the Ray Wing spell disappeared. "There's the hot water and the cold. Towels are in the cabinet by the sink. I'll be around somewhere. Take as long as you want!" Kopii said, closing the door behind him. He remembered that the sorcerer didn't like to impose on others, so he felt that the last part was necessary.  
"Hey, if there are any more kopiis that can't see, bring them to me. I can get to everybody now that Eris is gone," Kopii told his cluster of basement kopiis and some kitchen kopiis who had joined them. They giggled happily and all ran off in different directions.  
Kopii went over to see what food Eris had left him. Some bread, ride, miscellaneous noodles… Cans of stuff… Eggs, milk, a few fresh vegetables and fruit, and some unnamed fish. There was also some frozen beef, chicken, and sausage in the freezer. That would do for a while. And then there was coffee, tea, and water, of course. And Eris's stash of candy, if she hadn't taken it with her.  
Chattering and giggling behind him told Kopii that the other kopiis had returned. He turned and sat down in front of them. There was a good number with closed eyes, but not as many as he had thought. So he set out to heal each of them. The healing didn't take very long.  
Finally, all the little kopiis had opened their tiny purple eyes. Kopii stood up stiffly and stretched. He was so tall that his fingertips almost brushed the ceiling, even though this house had been made with especially high ceilings.  
Vrumugun came in, keeping his hand on the wall for support. He was now fully-clothed and looked rather damp, but not sticky. He looked suspiciously at Kopii.  
"My cloak's sleeves smell of mangoes," he said.  
Kopii reddened slightly. "Gomen. I um… I was eating a mango that night I borrowed it. They're very messy, you know. I tried to wash it off."  
Vrumugun nodded, swaying a bit on his feet.  
"Oh, gomen! Here, sit down. If you want something to eat, we have… well, we've got food, anyway," Kopii said. Vrumugun sat down gratefully in the chair closest to the door.  
"Arigato. I am not hungry at the moment," Vrumugun said.  
"Hey, if you want, I can try to let your kopiis out. Eris said she put a strong spell on them, but I wouldn't mind destroying the house," Kopii said helpfully.  
"No, do not bother," Vrumugun said. "If they are exactly like me, they should not mind. It gives them time to think in peace, which I have not had in quite a while."  
"Oh," Kopii said uncertainly. "If you want me to leave you alone, I can."  
"No," Vrumugun said sharply, looking Kopii straight in the eye for the first time. Then he lowered his gaze a bit. "As little peace as I have had, I have had even less time to talk with anyone. I appreciate your company."  
Kopii grinned. Rezo had never had anyone but Eris say anything like that to him! "Really? Domo!"  
"But if I am keeping you from your tasks, please go on about them," said Vrumugun.  
"Oh no, that's okay. I don't have anything I really have to do," Kopii said. "I should go pick up the staff Eris had the blacksmith make me, but not for a day or so. She told me to go around healing people too, but if there's anyone left in the area who needs to be healed, they'd have to be hiding pretty well."  
Kopii looked outside. The sun was beginning to set. Vrumugun looked completely exhausted, so Kopii said, "I'll let you sleep in Rezo's room. It's really nice, but you couldn't pay me to sleep there. Ill just sleep on the couch in the living room." He got up, and Vrumugun managed to follow him to Rezo's bedroom. Kopii stopped outside the door and let Vrumugun go in. Then he went back to the kitchen. He wasn't very hungry, but he ate an apple before going to bed. The sofa was really soft! Much better than that cold hard floor. The little kopiis who had been following him agreed. Everyone slept well without Eris there to bother them.  
  
*A Bit of Japanese*  
Arigato – Thank you  
Domo – Thanks  
Gomen – Sorry 


	12. Swordsman and Shrine Maiden

Author's Note: One more chapter of general happiness and pointless character introduction. Not too much happens in this one. Just you wait until next chapter, though! I'm pretty close to being done, I think. I still need ideas of what should happen between when Zelgadis leaves Rezo and Rezo dies, though. I know I can use artistic license and ignore the plot of the series, but I want to try to stick pretty closely to it. Otherwise, I'll never finish and the story will start to really suck.  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 12: Swordsman and Shrine Maiden  
  
Kopii and Vrumugun walked to town silently, enjoying the nice day. Kopii was wearing all his Rezo-robes, including the big bulky shoulder guards, had his hair in Rezo's style. Since Eris had left a few days ago, he had been wearing just the white robe around the house. He also pulled his hair back in a ponytail when he wasn't going out. It made him look less like Rezo, and he liked that very much. With the help of one of Kopii's spells, Vrumugun was doing much better also. He could walk around town for a good part of the day without collapsing now.  
The blacksmith had his shop in the very middle of Sairaag. Vrumugun stood outside while Kopii put on his best Rezo face and went inside.  
"Excuse me, I believe you were making a staff for me. Is it ready yet?" Kopii asked, keeping his voice mild and his eyes closed.  
"Oh, aka houshi Rezo-sama!" the blacksmith's greeting sounded very nervous. "Well you see, I had it almost finished, but then the mold for the top part of the staff broke. The best I could do was make it a plain ring with smaller rings on it. I can try to make another mold though, aka houshi-sama.  
"Let me see it," Kopii said, extending his hand. He mentally kicked himself. Rezo would never say that! But the blacksmith complied, and Kopii held the staff. It felt well-balanced, and just the right weight. He felt the rings on the top all over, opening his green eye just a slit to look at it.  
"Gomen nasai, aka houshi-sama," the blacksmith said, terrified. "I can make another one!"  
"No, don't trouble yourself," Kopii said quickly. "I am very pleased with it. I'll take it. How much do I owe you?" Eris wouldn't like it at all. It wasn't like Rezo's! This week was just getting better and better.  
"Oh, your assistant paid for it when she ordered it, aka houshi-sama," the blacksmith said, happy that Rezo was pleased.  
"Oh good," said Kopii. Then a thought struck him. "If my assistant would happen to come back and ask you to make another staff like my previous one, please do not agree to it. She often tries to do what she thinks is best behind my back."  
"Of course, aka houshi-sama!" the blacksmith exclaimed. Kopii smiled slightly, thanked him, and left.  
Vrumugun was still standing outside, looking slightly bored. "Sorry for the wait!" Kopii said. "But look! It's MY staff, not Rezo's!"  
Vrumugun nodded in silent approval. As they started back out of town, they heard a commotion from the next street over. Someone ran out of an alley and bumped into Kopii. He opened his eyes in surprise and his mismatched eyes met a pair of blue ones. The owner of the blue eyes had tanned skin and long curly blue-black hair. He was wearing a long brown cape-like thing and a tall bent brown hat. Kopii quickly closed his eyes again, and a crowd blocked all three of them into a small space.  
"We've got you now, you thief!" said someone near the front of the crowd. "And aka houshi Rezo-sama can help us sort this out!" There was a general mumbling of assent.  
"I didn't take anything!" the man in brown said indignantly.  
The crowd was getting louder, so Kopii raised up his new staff and brought it down with a 'sh-ching!' It had a higher pitch than Rezo's. Perfect! The crowd was immediately silent.  
"I will see if he is telling the truth," Kopii said, and 'stared' through closed eyelids at the man. He could see the man's shape in white. That meant he was innocent. He scanned the crowd… There! A reddish black shape. Kopii almost opened his eyes again in shock. A child? No, some great dark force! It felt more powerful than Xellos! He pointed his staff at the powerful child-thing, Ray Winging it just above the crowd. "Here is the real thief."  
The crowd murmured in surprise. This cute innocent little boy? With his long black hair and wide blue eyes, he hardly looked like a thief.  
The 'boy' said nothing. He had heard that his Master was in the body of the famous red priest. This man was, without a doubt, aka houshi Rezo. There was no need to even try to sense his master there. So he figured he'd better play along for now.  
As the crowd went off to run the small thief out of town, Kopii turned to the man in the hat. "Are you all right?" he asked.  
"Hai, I'm fine. But you're not really Rezo, are you?" the man said. "He can't open his eyes."  
Kopii panicked. What would happen if he was revealed for a fake?  
"I know you're not him," said the man. "But don't worry, since you helped me, I won't tell anyone."  
Kopii breathed a sigh of relief. "Arigato," he said gratefully. He started to walk towards the house, with Vrumugun following him, but the blue-eyed man followed as well. "So if you're not Rezo, who are you?" he asked.  
Kopii hesitated, but since the man had already promised not to tell anyone, he told him the whole story. By the time he was finished, they had arrived at Rezo's house.  
"I see. That's pretty weird," said the man in brown. "Well I'm Zangulus. If you ever need a swordsman just let me know. I'm the best."  
"Arigato!" Kopii said. "This is Rezo's house, where we're staying. Come by any time you want!"  
"I may just take you up on that offer," Zangulus said, grinning.  
  
***  
  
Eris was not happy. Just when she thought she could be with her dear Rezo-sama again, she couldn't! He came very infrequently, and it was only to teach Zelgadis, not to see her. That boy… Even though he was related to Rezo, Eris couldn't stand him. He had no respect for the great priest at all! Or for her, for that matter. She'd like to take him down a notch or two. He thought he was so great… But he was learning white magic from her at an amazing rate. He could probably surpass her easily. She wouldn't teach him the really strong spells because of that. So in white magic at least, she would always be his superior.  
  
***  
  
Zelgadis was absolutely furious with his new teacher. She was such a little Rezo fan girl! Didn't she realize how cruel the priest was!? He didn't even seem to like her. How pathetic. He could also tell how jealous she was of his ability to learn magic quickly. And the fact that he spent more time with Rezo than she did. She could have that time as far as he was concerned. Rezo wasn't even teaching him much shaman magic anymore. It was mostly just useless stuff that he'd probably never use. He wished he could talk more with the tall man he'd met in the bar. He could teach him all about shamanistic magic, Zelgadis was sure. But since he didn't even know the man's real name, he knew it was unlikely.  
  
***  
  
In one of his many hidden properties, Rezo had summoned a low-level mazoku to him. It looked like a thin creepy old man. This mazoku had a proposition for Rezo, from the entire population of mazoku. If Rezo would resurrect one of the pieces of Shabranigdu for them, they would guarantee that he would get his sight. He agreed, thinking that he would comply with the mazoku's requests and then kill the Dark Lord if he could. Naturally, the mazoku knew of this plan. They were all counting on Rezo to be completely controlled by Shabranigdu by that time. Not that he would have a chance anyway. Each walked away form the deal believing that he would have a distinct advantage.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, back in Sairaag, Kopii had gotten a proposition of his own. One of the most respected men in town had stopped him on his way to pick up some groceries, about a month after the day he had gotten his staff. This man had a daughter who was a shrine maiden of Flagoon, the holy tree. At one time she had practiced black magic, but now she only used white magic. She wanted to advance in the shrine's ranks, but could not do so unless she learned some higher-level white magic. Kopii had agreed to go to their house to teach the girl what he could.  
So a few weeks later, Kopii found himself in the back yard of Sylphiel Nels Rahda and her father. He and Sylphiel stood under a tree as he taught her some of the more difficult spells of white magic. She was a wonderful student: kind, quiet, talented, and eager to learn. She already knew the basic healing spells for mind and body. So Kopii was teaching her some more advanced techniques and spells. He taught her how to set a bone and heal it, how to carefully repair damaged nerve tissue or blood vessels, and how to heal the sensory organs, like eyes and ears. He also taught her how to bring someone back from the brink of death and stimulate blood replacement. And how to heal, or at least calm, an insane mind. He had tried this on Rezo himself, just before he left, but it had been no good.  
"Rezo-sama," Sylphiel said, after learning to heal sensory organs, "I can try to heal your eyes, if you want me to."  
Kopii smiled at her. "No Sylphiel, that's all right. I have tried that spell and many others. I'm afraid I'm beyond help."  
  
***  
  
As he walked home, Kopii wondered if Rezo knew how well-loved he was. He couldn't tell from the memories he had.  
Kopii passed Zangulus on the way home. They smiled and waved, exchanging greetings before going on their separate ways. Zangulus was a bounty hunter by nature, and he had stayed in town renting himself out as a guard of one type or another to pay for his room and board at the inn. He sometimes came to visit Kopii and Vrumugun, and Vrumugun often went into town to see him. Kopii was surprised that the mage had suddenly become so social, but he was glad that his friend was happy.  
When Kopii got back to his house, he found that Vrumugun was trying to teach the little kopiis to do magic, with mixed results. They'd had to move outside because the few times the kopiis got a spell right, the house had nearly burned down. There were scorch-marks all over the kitchen.  
"Any luck so far?" Kopii asked Vrumugun. The sorcerer made a face.  
"None to speak of," he said, motioning for the little kopiis to go play. They did so happily. "Collectively, they have the attention span of a single gnat. If they would just concentrate, they could be almost as strong as I am, though still no match for you."  
Kopii nodded sympathetically. He knew it took ages to teach them anything, despite how intelligent they were.  
So Kopii and Vrumugun and the little kopiis ate fish for dinner. They had kept the same sleeping arrangements, with Kopii on the couch, Vrumugun in Rezo's room, and the little kopiis all over. Before he fell asleep, Kopii found himself thinking of Rezo again. And for the first time in a long time, he could do it without any hate.  
  
*A Bit of Japanese*  
Gomen Nasai – I'm very sorry  
Aka Houshi – Red Priest  
Hai – Yes  
Arigato – Thank you 


	13. Untimely Encounters

Author's Note: Unlucky chapter 13 for Kopii and Vrumugun. I was dreading an encounter with my mom when I wrote this, so her scary side comes out in Eris. It was stressing me out just writing her, so I had to have Kopii fix things, which came as quite a relief. Good and bad in this chapter. Next chapter, important stuff happens and I get to have some fun with everybody's subconscious. Review, please!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 13: Untimely Encounters  
  
Rezo was inordinately pleased with his great-grandson's training. The boy had recently turned 18. He had surpassed Rodimus in swordsmanship a while ago. He had also learned all Zolf and Eris had to teach him of black and white magic. And he could even almost match Rezo himself in shaman magic, if nothing else. He was so good that Rodimus and Zolf called him 'master' now. They had become very good friends with him, which Rezo was glad to see.  
The mazoku Rezo had made his contract with had recently told him something very interesting. Apparently, a Philosopher's Stone had appeared. Supposedly a fragment of the staff of the gods that held up the world, this magical artifact magnified magic to an enormous degree and was said to change the course of history when it appeared. With something like that, Rezo figured he should have enough strength to summon the great Dark Lord, and hopefully enough left over to kill him. If not, he had great faith that Zelgadis would at least put up a good fight.  
In the meantime, Rezo had sent Zelgadis, who in turn had sent Zolf, Rodimus, Dilgear, and the other animal chimeras to find the stone. He looked himself, when he could. But his mind always felt fuzzy. As if it were being smothered between two pillows stuffed full of needles. It was very hard to speak or act for himself, so most of the time he retreated to the safe corner of his mind to hide and save his strength.  
Since Rezo had no more use for Eris, he sent her home. She protested a lot, but he held firm on this point. She needed to be out of his way and out of danger. He told her to go keep an eye on the house for him and continue her work with the chimeras and kopii-related things. So Eris reluctantly Ray Winged herself back home.  
  
***  
  
As Eris walked up the path leading to the house, she was surprised to see all of the window open. Laughter came from inside. It sounded almost like Rezo-sama…. That Kopii! Eris walked faster and more purposefully. She opened the door and glared at what she saw.  
It looked like all the little kopiis had cast light spells and were making their little balls of light into dotted pictures. They were laughing hysterically. Vrumugun was sitting at the table, his normally blank expression lightened into a smile. Kopii was sitting in another chair, laughing at the other kopiis' pictures. And his hair was pulled back into that horrible ponytail again! He was sitting there like he owned the place! How dare he!?  
No one noticed when Eris quietly opened the door. They were having too much fun. But when she slammed it shut behind her, they all looked up. All the kopiis' light spells went out. Kopii and Vrumugun had almost identical expressions of horror on their faces. The little kopiis ran away, chattering fearfully to each other.  
"Kopii, how DARE you!!!!" Eris shouted. Kopii flinched. "You're not dressed the way you're supposed to be. Even your hair is wrong again! You let this creep out, which I told you NOT to do. And you had the nerve to teach the kopiis magic!?" Eris couldn't think of anything else. She had become speechless with rage.   
Kopii stood up, trying to use his towering height and strange eyes for intimidation. "Eris, I am NOT Rezo. I don't have to dress like that when I'm here. My hair is my own as well. You said not to let Vrumugun's KOPIIS out, and I haven't touched them. You said nothing of the sort about the original. And the kopiis already knew magic, we just taught them to concentrate enough to actually use some," he said sternly.  
Eris stepped back for a moment. This wasn't good. Then she glared at him and exerted her will over him with the gem on his forehead. Kopii went stiff for a moment. Then she made him sit down. She took out her comb and furiously combed his hair back into Rezo's style. Then she made him go put the red outer robe and shoulder guards on while she trapped Vrumugun in a Ray Wing and took him down to the lab. She paralyzed him with a spell, ripped his robes back off, and attached the blood and nutrient tubes back onto his body. Then she levitated him into the tank, shut the lid, and set it to fill to the top with syrupy suspension fluid.  
When she returned to the kitchen, Eris found Kopii standing in his Rezoish clothing, awaiting her orders. She took her control off of him momentarily. "Where's the staff you were supposed to pick up?" she asked angrily. Kopii frowned, but he went and got it from the living room.  
"What's this! This isn't Rezo-sama's staff! I'll have to go have a word with that fool blacksmith," Eris said. She was just angry with the whole world right now.   
"You can't!" Kopii said, anxious to save his unique staff. "He said the mold broke. And it's already paid for. And… There's a no-return policy!"  
"Rrgh…" Eris growled, gritting her teeth. "Well you'd better have been doing something useful all this time!"  
"I was!" Kopii said defensively. "I helped a lot of people. And I'm giving a girl magic lessons."  
"Well cut them short. You're not fit to be outside by yourself," snapped Eris. "I'm going upstairs. You tell that girl she's learned everything she can, because you're not going to teach her anymore. And come right back when you're finished." With that, Eris stomped up the stairs to her attic. She slammed the door, threw her bag down, and flopped down on her bed, sobbing. 'Why couldn't Rezo-sama have just stayed? Things were so wonderful with him here…'  
  
***  
  
Kopii left quickly, wanting to get as far away as possible. He was far too upset over Eris's return to go straight to Sylphiel's house, so he wandered around town for a while to calm down. There was one of those 'hit the bell, win a prize' things near the market, and everyone cheered in amazement when the ancient, blind red priest hammered it so hard, the bell nearly fell off. That made him feel better, so he walked from there to Sylphiel's house carrying his prize. The sight of the graceful, dignified aka houshi Rezo walking through town carrying a stuffed golden dragon almost as big as he was proved hilarious to anyone who saw him. It was hard to walk varying it in front of him, and he almost fell a few times.  
But finally, Kopii made it up to Sylphiel's house. She saw him from the window and ran out to meet him. He smiled at her.  
"Ohayo, Sylphiel. Here, I won this. You can have it," he said, holding out the huge stuffed dragon to her. She took it and set it down beside her.  
"Oh Rezo-sensei, it's so cute! It's wonderful! I love it," Sylphiel said, smiling at her teacher. "You're a bit early today. Should we start the lesson already?"  
Kopii's face fell. He really had enjoyed teaching her. "No Sylphiel. I'm afraid there will be no more lessons. I've taught you all I can."  
"Really?" Sylphiel asked.  
"Hai. You can do just about anything short of bringing the dead back to life. It's been a pleasure teaching you, Sylphiel-san," Kopii said. Luckily, it was true. She had learned pretty much all the white magic he could teach her.  
"Oh, arigato Rezo-sensei! Thank you so much! Would you like to come in? I'm sure my father wouldn't mind having you over for dinner!" Sylphiel said. It was the least she could offer her beloved teacher.  
"I would like that very much, Sylphiel-san," Kopii said sadly. "But I'm afraid I have a prior engagement that I can't cancel. Perhaps another time."  
"What about next week?" Sylphiel asked eagerly. But this made her teacher look even sadder.  
"I really wish I could, Sylphiel," said Kopii. "But I have a feeling I'm going to be kept very busy for quite a long time. If me schedule would happen to clear up suddenly, though, I'd love to take you up on that offer."  
So the two sadly parted. Sylphiel hauled the gargantuan stuffed dragon into her room while Kopii walked slowly, feet dragging, back to his house.  
  
***  
  
Eris was back in the kitchen with some coffee, ready to start yelling at Kopii again when he got back.  
"That took a while. Are you sure you didn't stop along the way?" Eris asked suspiciously.  
"No, it just took a while to explain to her," said Kopii.  
Eris stared at him for a while, obviously not believing him. Then to Kopii's horror, there was a knock at the door. He panicked, praying that Sylphiel hadn't followed him. He didn't want that sweet girl exposed to Eris's wrath! Eris went to the door and Kopii leapt to follow.  
Eris opened the door, and Kopii saw that it was Zangulus. "Hey K –" he said, stopping when he saw Eris.  
Eris sneered at him. "What do you want with aka houshi Rezo-sama?" she demanded.  
Zangulus, seeing Kopii's look of pure terror, realized that this must be that horrible Eris he'd been told about. He changed tactics.  
"Uh… I wanted to ask aka houshi Rezo to make me an enchanted sword," he said quickly.  
"Hmm… an enchanted sword? Why can't you just go find one? Or ask someone else," said Eris, quite unreasonably.  
"Well I want THIS sword enchanted," Zangulus said, pointing to the one hanging from his belt. "Everyone knows the best enchanted swords are made specially for the wielder, not found in some old ruin. And everyone knows that Rezo-sama's the best at things like this. Who are you anyway, his bodyguard?" he said, trying to bait her. It wasn't hard right now.  
Kopii saw that Eris was about to explode at Zangulus. He understood her anger and grief, to a point, but she was completely out of control. This could not continue. He quickly cast a mind-calming spell on her. Then he stepped forward, and in his most regal Rezo voice he said, "Of course. Just let me borrow it for a while. I'll let you know when it's finished. Now, perhaps we should step outside to discuss a price." He carefully brushed past Eris, exerting a small bit of control over her to make her go upstairs and go to bed. Hopefully that would help. Then he stepped outside with Zangulus.  
"Lord of Nightmares, Kopii! What a bitch!!" Zangulus exclaimed. "How can you stand her!? No wonder Rezo left!"  
Kopii sighed, opening his eyes to look at the swordsman. "Yeah, I know what you mean. She was nice to Rezo, though. And she never used to be THIS bad!"  
"Well I guess I dug myself into a financial hole here, ne? How much is this thing gonna cost?" Zangulus asked, patting the sword at his side.  
"Oh don't worry about it. Consider it an early birthday present or something. If Eris asks, I'll tell her I put the money in with her supply," said Kopii.  
"Really? You sure about that?" Zangulus asked. Kopii nodded. "Hey, thanks!"  
"You're welcome," said Kopii. "Now I'd better go back and get to work. I had to force Eris to go to sleep. I really hope it helps. Your sword shouldn't take too long."  
So Zangulus handed over his sword and Kopii took it inside. He brought it down to the lab, snagging some bread and butter to eat on the way. He set the sword on a stand near his cage and ran his hands over it, careful not to touch the sharp blade. Kopii opened up a small pocket of astral space around the sword and then carefully sealed it shut. He would let it sit overnight and tomorrow it would be very receptive to his enchantments. He mentally checked on Eris. Luckily, she was fast asleep.  
"I calmed her mind and put her to sleep," Kopii told Vrumugun. "I really hope that helps!" Vrumugun nodded slightly in agreement.  
All that magic had tired Kopii out. Thinking wistfully of the warm, soft sofa in the living room but knowing that Eris would likely catch him there, he lay down on the floor to sleep. The little kopiis gathered around him, and that made him feel better.  
And up in the attic, Eris dreamed of Rezo talking to her, though she couldn't quite make out the words he used. The little kopiis chattered into her ears.  
  
*Some Japanese for You*  
Ohayo – hello/good afternoon  
Sensei - teacher 


	14. Rising Action and Dreams

Author's Note: Reaching towards the end, finally! I have it all planned out, though I couldn't bring myself to end it the way I'd planned before. But anyway, I get to have a last little bit of fun with most people before the world goes to hell for them all. Beware of sadness to come, but not just yet! No offense, but I don't need any more ideas. Yet. At the end of the story I may want ideas for a sequel, but I'll take a while off first to do other stuff. Anyway, on to the next chapter!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 14: Rising Action and Dreams  
  
Kopii noticed that the population of kopiis in the house had been dwindling lately. Aside from the ones that had gone with Milgazia or Rezo, or been killed by Eris's 'cures,' quite a few had wandered outside, never to return. They were surprisingly resilient though, so Kopii didn't worry about them too much. Despite their lack of attention span, they were smart enough to take care of themselves. He was also immensely relieved that his mind-calming spell had worked on Eris. Now she was even a little better than she had been before leaving to look for Rezo. Kopii could deal with her this way.  
Eris felt as well as could be expected. When she had gotten home she had been so angry it had been painful. After that guy with the sword had knocked on the door, she had suddenly felt floaty, and too tired to do anything. Shortly after she had felt compelled to go upstairs to bed. She knew that Kopii had done this to her. It made her feel immeasurably better, but she knew he had done it for his own purposes, not for her. So she saw no need to thank him. She was practicing controlling him with the gem on his forehead. It got easier with time. She also made Kopii do everything with his eyes closed and practice speaking in more of a Rezoish voice. Kopii had the voice naturally, but the tone was all wrong. Far too informal.  
Kopii, of course, hated these 'Rezo lessons.' But Eris had gotten so good at controlling him, he couldn't do a thing about it.  
A few days after Zangulus had handed over his sword, Kopii had it very nicely enchanted. It still worked just like a normal sword, but it was nearly unbreakable. And if its wielder used it right, it could fire off huge waves of greenish energy. It was truly a force to be reckoned with. Unable to think of a better name, Kopii called it the 'Demonic Howling Sword' since its energy was derived from the mazoku and its power blasts made an eerie howling sound. He took it to Zangulus's room at the inn one night while Eris was asleep. Zangulus was immensely pleased with it and thanked him profusely.  
  
***  
  
Zelgadis, meanwhile, nearly had the philosopher's stone in his grasp. Zolf had located it in a bandit camp. He had gained the bandits' trust and was about to take the statue that hid the Stone when Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer, Dragon Spooker, and Enemy of All Who Live showed up. She blew up the whole camp and took the treasure. Since Zolf had been so close by, his whole body was now covered in bandages. He looked like a mummy. Zelgadis had attempted to buy the statue from Lina and her new bodyguard, but the price she asked for it was completely ridiculous. And she hadn't wanted to join him either. So he, Dilgear, and Rodimus had been forced to ambush Lina and her bodyguard and kidnap the small sorceress.  
This, of course, would have led them all to needing as many bandages as Zolf, if it hadn't been That Time of the Month for the Enemy of All Who Live. So luckily, Zelgadis was able to capture her without incident. He had brought her back to the stronghold of the animal men, and Rodimus and Dilgear had soon joined him. They tied up Lina Inverse and hung her in the middle of the room for Zolf, Dilgear, and the fish man Noonsa to torture. Or just to tease, as it had turned out. It had soon degenerated into a contest of who could be more ridiculous. Zelgadis sighed at their lack of seriousness and went to bed. He left Rodimus to guard the outside door and Zolf and Dilgear to guard the sorceress herself. He was taking no chances. He knew what the Philosopher's Stone could do, and he couldn't let Rezo have it!  
Zelgadis lay down on his hard wooden bed and tossed and turned, trying to get to sleep. When he did fall asleep however, he wished he hadn't.  
  
***  
  
It was dark and gloomy in the swamp. Zelgadis was slashing furiously at the air. 'Must become stronger,' he thought. There was mist all around him. And suddenly a bell-like ringing. That staff… Rezo appeared, moving silently toward him. He couldn't move. Then Rezo's hair and robes seemed to grow, becoming ragged tentacular things. They wrapped tightly around his smooth skin. He couldn't breathe. Could barely scream. His skin was turning blue and bumpy. Rezo was laughing somewhere, but everything was going dark for him….  
And he woke up gasping for breath, drenched in a cold sweat. Just a dream. He looked at his shaking hands, blue where the gloves didn't cover them.  
No, it wasn't just a dream. It had happened. It had to be undone. Now was the time, Zelgadis realized. He would make Lina Inverse show him where the statue was hidden. Then he would kill Rezo for what he had done. He got up and went to cut Lina's bonds.  
But Zelgadis was not the only one who dreamed that night….  
  
***  
  
Lina Inverse had dropped into a light sleep even in her uncomfortable position. She dreamed that she opened a door. There was a huge room full of food. "Lucky!" she said, grinning. ""It's all mine!" But as she reached for the first plate, hands snatched it away. That scary Zelgadis was eating her food! She was about to yell at him, but she could not speak at all. And when she tried to run towards the food, it was so slow that she was barely moving. More people appeared. To her right, aka houshi Rezo was stuffing his face with fish. He ate amazingly well for a blind man, she realized through her rage. The old man, Rodimus, was also eating. And Mummy Man was trying to eat noodles. He ended up sucking in his bandages also, and after a while he had devoured then all, and there was nothing left of him. His cape fell to the floor, and Lina turned away, sickened. That horrible Noonsa came in eating shrimp and smacking his lips. Eww… Lina cringed as she saw her sister Luna casually eating some Pocky. And there was a happy-looking man with purple hair grinning as he licked an ice cream cone suggestively. A blond girl appeared to whack him with a mace, and then she took a big bite out of the mace. Right in front of her, Lina saw Gourry eating a huge pot of something.  
"Oi Lina, this dragon cuisine is great!" he said, laughing. Everyone started laughing. Lina tried to run to the food, or away from it, but she couldn't move. She woke up suddenly when the rope holding her up was cut and she slammed into the floor.  
  
***  
  
Rezo had fallen asleep over his work.  
He saw nothing, of course, but Xellos's voice came to him. "It's almost time now. You're doing so well! We're all very pleased with you."  
"Xellos?" Rezo called. "When will I get to see? Please tell me!"  
"Oh, soon," Xellos said, his voice fading into the distance. "Soon enough."  
"Come back!" Rezo called, sensing the mazoku was gone.  
A new voice came. It was his own, but slightly higher. "Why did you create me? I never did anyone any good. I'm not you! Why can't you all leave me alone?"  
"Kopii?" Rezo asked.  
"She says I have to be you," Kopii's voice continued. He ignored Rezo. "I'll show her. I'll SURPASS you! Then… Then…" the voice faded out.  
"No, Kopii. Wait! I –" Rezo called after the voice.  
"Rezo-sama," Eris's sad voice came to him. "Oh Rezo-sama. You're always with Zelgadis. You won't even talk to me. I love you, Rezo-sama. And I miss you so much…"  
"Oh Eris…" Rezo said softly. "I wish I could be with you again. I don't deserve anyone as kind as you are. But it's too late now. Just… Take care of Kopii. Treat him as well as you treated me."  
And she was gone. Rezo was alone again in his eternal darkness.  
  
***  
  
Kopii dreamed that he was in Rezo's tower near Atlas City. It was daytime, but he couldn't see a thing. He realized when he felt a sickening lurch where his eyes should be, and fear in the back of his mind, that he was Rezo. Horrible pain blasted out of his eyes, and he clutched them tightly. Then they opened. He saw the room and some frightened-looking people through a haze of red before he blacked out. The next thing he knew, he was standing in his own body near Flagoon. Ghostly dragon heads writhed around him, overwhelming him, almost in complete control of him. He looked up at Flagoon. The holy tree had always been a comfort for him to look at, but this was different. It was trying to stop him. He felt an irresistible anger, and an urge to stop it first…. And then Xellos was in front of him, smiling almost sadly.  
"Ah, Kopii-kun. Don't worry. It will happen, but it's not as bad as it looks. All will be well, I'm sure.  
  
***  
  
Eris dreamed that Kopii was speaking to her with Xellos's voice.  
"You silly baka," he said scornfully. "I'm not your Rezo-sama. I'll be better than he ever was. Try all you want, you can't stop me."  
Then it shifted to become Xellos with Kopii's voice.  
"Eris-san, you're doing well," the strange combination said. "Just don't try to overstep your boundaries. I told you the kopii would be more powerful than you could ever hope to be. If you don't let that happen, you won't like the results."  
She later had a blurry vision of Rezo telling her he cared for her, and to treat Kopii as if he were Rezo himself, or something like that. But that was all.  
  
***  
  
Zangulus and Vrumugun had nearly identical dreams. They stood beside Eris, with Kopii looming behind them. Three girls and two men with swords were in front of them in battle stances. Vrumugun recognized one of the girls as Kopii's student Sylphiel. She looked upset. Kopii looked impassive, even cruel. There was a faint red pulsing under the band around Kopii's head. Vrumugun felt a force compelling him through the huge jewel that seemed to be on his own head. Zangulus felt obsessively pulled towards the blond swordsman. That was all.  
  
***  
  
The little kopiis dreamed that night as well. They dreamed that they all played together, with Rezo, Kopii, and Xellos. They laughed in their sleep, playing all the fun games they could think of.  
  
***  
  
Xellos, floating in his room on Wolfpack Island, dreamed nothing at all. He was far too busy planting dreams for others to find.  
  
************************  
No more Japanese lessons for you. Go out and learn some on your own now. And review another chapter for me, please! Thank you! 


	15. Ripped from Contentment

Author's Note: Here we have the end of all happiness. Just to warn you. Don't let that scare you away this far into the story, though! And I don't remember exactly what happened around this time because I haven't seen it in a while, but if you're that picky, too bad. This will be finished by Tuesday, if not before. Thanks for all the great support in your reviews and such!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 15: Ripped from Contentment  
  
Zelgadis had had a strange handful of days recently. Instead of taking Lina's statue and leaving her, he had ended up joining her. After a brief near run-in with Rezo, her bodyguard Gourry had joined them. Rezo had sent Dilgear, the animal men, numerous berserkers, and plenty of other things after them. When they finally got to Atlas City, they had found not only Dilgear and the animal men waiting to ambush them, but a real mazoku! It was a low-level mazoku, but even the weakest of the demons was no laughing matter. Zelgadis had been grateful to have his astral attacks and Gourry's Hikari no Ken to combat the creature with.  
After defeating all of Rezo's lackeys, they had gone to a small but crowded tavern to eat. Zelgadis had been very uncomfortable with all the people around. He was sure they were all staring at his freakish body. Even with his hood and face mask covering him, he felt very self-conscious about his appearance.  
As Lina and Gourry had inhaled platter upon platter of food, Zelgadis had watched with morbid curiosity bordering on open disgust. They seemed so frivolous about what was happening! They didn't have a hope of standing up to Rezo if these two couldn't get more serious about it.  
But now he found himself back in the tower where he had lived for months. Rezo had cast a spell on him to make him fight his companions while the insidious red priest got away. Upon regaining control, he had to wonder if he himself was the liability who would slow down the group. But Lina wouldn't give him time to wallow in his own self-pity. Shouting for him and Gourry to follow, she charged through the door after Rezo. Lina was all ready to cast a big spell. Zelgadis was ready to do the same, and he and Gourry ran after her with their swords drawn.  
They were too late, of course. By the time they broke into the top floor's huge magic chamber, Rezo had the Philosopher's Stone out of the Orihalcon statue. He was chanting a mighty summoning spell. The magic circles and mystic symbols that took up the whole room were beginning to glow under him. Zelgadis had no doubt what was being summoned. To his surprise, he thought he heard Rezo's voice in his mind say a very faint, "No." He was sure Lina had heard it too. Rezo screamed and clutched his eyes as brilliant red light poured out of them.  
Then he stopped suddenly. He opened his eyes… They were pure red. No cornea, iris, or pupil could be seen, just that horrible red. Rezo started cackling madly, ranting that he could see. But then Shabranigdu took root in his body as well as his mind. Zelgadis tried to cast a spell, to stop this horrible thing happening before him. But it was too late….  
  
***  
  
Eris was making Kopii walk through the very crowded living room without tripping when he let out an anguished scream and fell on the sofa, clutching his eyes. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked.  
Kopii felt like a Dragon Slave had been cast on his eyes. He couldn't stop screaming in pain. Then suddenly, the pain turned to numbness. He gasped, but kept his eyes tightly closed. He distantly heard Eris asking him over and over what was wrong, saying that his eyes were bleeding. Then suddenly, just like his dream, he had a vision. Through a red haze, he saw the top room of Rezo's tower near Atlas City. There were the people he had seen, also. A short girl with long rather curly hair. Lina Inverse, he'd heard of her. A short young man with speckled blue skin and shiny hair like wire. A tall blond man with a glowing blue sword. That had to be the famous Hikari no Ken. And the two men he had seen in the bar, Rodimus and Zolf.  
Pain exploded again, not just in his eyes, but everywhere. By this time he realized that it was Rezo who was actually experiencing this. He quickly dragged himself out of the red priest's mind with one final scream. He sat panting on the sofa in Rezo's living room, with Eris beside him.  
"What the hell is going on, Kopii!?" Eris demanded. Now that his hands were away from his eyes she could heal him. But to her surprise, she found that the blood had disappeared without a trace.  
Kopii tried to breathe. Finally, he managed to say, "Rezo… I don't know… His eyes hurt and then he could see. And people were there fighting him. Lina Inverse and some others. Then there was pain all over and… I don't know!" He was almost wailing. So much fear and pain! It was Rezo, but NOT Rezo! In a different way than he was not Rezo. It was so confusing! He didn't understand. He put his head in his hands, overwhelmed.  
Eris didn't know what to do. She was surprised to hear a small voice ask weakly, "Could I have some tea?" Kopii looked to pathetic. So she went to make him some tea.  
Kopii was using every ounce of energy he had to keep Rezo's anguish out of him mind. When Eris came back with the tea he took it gratefully and drank it in small sips. Then he handed the cup back to her with a small "Thank you" and put his head back in his hands. He didn't know what to make of this at all. Should he be doing something? What could he do?  
"Do you see anything else? What's happening to Rezo-sama now?" Eris asked, prompting him eagerly. Kopii shook his head.  
"I don't know. I think he's fighting," he said. He didn't really want to know what was going on, but even blocking it as he was, he could feel a bit seeping through.  
"Who's he fighting?" Eris asked. "Those people you mentioned? Lina Inverse?"  
"Yes… and… himself, I think. It's so hard to tell," Kopii said, looking up in confusion.  
Finally, Kopii was able to calm down. His breathing returned to normal. He could vaguely feel Rezo winning, or so Rezo seemed to think.  
Then suddenly he felt an enormous spell, stronger than anything he had ever used, though Rezo had cast spells just as powerful before. It was tearing Rezo apart. But Rezo seemed to feel no pain. It was as if he had no pain left to feel, and no way to feel it. Kopii couldn't make a sound. He was caught between how horrible Rezo's death felt and the red priest's apparent contentment with it. But Eris noticed his panicked state.  
"What's happening?" she asked quickly.  
"He's gone…" Kopii said, in a state of shock.  
"You… you mean he left, right? Teleported away?" Eris said shakily, forcing herself to believe it.  
Kopii looked at her with pain in his strange eyes. "No," he said. "Dead." He was in no condition to be tactful.  
"Dead? Rezo-sama? NO!!!!" Eris cried, distraught. "You're lying!"  
"Can't you tell I'm not?" Kopii said tiredly.  
Eris had no choice but to accept it. Fighting to hold back her tears, Eris ran out to the kitchen. She returned with a pad of unlined paper and a pencil.  
"Draw the faces of those monsters who killed Rezo-sama! We'll get them!" she said, already crying.  
Kopii was exhausted, but he managed to make a pretty good likeness of each of them. He somehow knew that Zolf and Rodimus were dead, so he left them out. He felt completely numb. Not caring that he wasn't allowed to sleep there, Kopii flumped over fast asleep right there on the couch.  
  
***  
  
After attaining some temporary control over her emotions, Eris came back downstairs. She saw Kopii sound asleep on the sofa and he looked so much like Rezo-sama that she had to fight to keep from crying again. When she was reasonably sure she had stopped, she considered making him go back to the basement. But she was so emotionally numb that she just couldn't bring herself to care. It was just as well, because Kopii was so deeply asleep it would be impossible to wake him now. She picked up the drawings to look at them. They were all wrong!  
The first one, Lina Inverse, looked young and cute. The man with a lot of hair looked determined but innocent. She was surprised to recognize the last one. Zelgadis!? Kopii had drawn him well, but even he had a human look about his eyes. She seethed with anger. She took the pencil and erased all the eyes and mouths. She drew slanting, evil-looking eyes and wide, cruel smirks where the mouths had been. And every eyebrow in the group was pointed down. The result was three smugly evil smirks, making the fighters look truly fiendish. Tomorrow she would take them down to the newspaper's printing press and make enough copies of each to hang all over every town inside the mazoku barrier.  
Eris looked at Kopii again. He looked so tired… and so much like Rezo-sama. Just then, Eris remembered what Rezo had told her in her dream. He said something along the lines of treating Kopii as if he were Rezo. Of course! It all fit into place now. Eris could make Kopii into Rezo! Even if he wasn't the brightest creature, he was already learning to act more like Rezo. But his training would have to intensify.  
Eris leaned over Kopii. She lightly brushed the band she had put around his head and cast a spell. Now as long as he wore this headband, Kopii could never act against Eris. If he was to be Rezo-sama, she had to be able to trust him completely, after all.  
In the basement, Vrumugun and his kopiis had also felt the great priest's passing, though much more faintly. They had never known him, but it gave them a general feeling of sadness.  
The little kopiis had been especially quiet today. As Eris went up the stairs again to cry herself to sleep, the 50 or so kopiis gathered around Kopii. They sniffled and whimpered as they snuggled into him, needing his warmth for comfort. Kopii, though fast asleep and utterly dreamless, had a general feeling of misery in him. The whole house mourned the passing of aka houshi Rezo tonight.  
  
…….. 


	16. Tools of Revenge

Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 16: Tools of Revenge  
  
Eris woke up a bit later than she had hoped to the next day. After resting all night, she was no longer emotionally exhausted. Now her heart burned for revenge. After getting dressed, she went downstairs with the three pictures of Rezo-sama's killers. She put larger frames around each, and created Wanted posters out of them, offering a reward for each. She no longer wore the simple but pretty white dresses she had worn… before. Now she wore an outfit of black leather and metal spikes. It suited her current mood much more.  
On her way out, Eris grabbed an apple to eat on the way. Despite the fact that she wasn't hungry, she wouldn't be able to carry out Rezo-sama's revenge if she died of starvation. She saw that Kopii was still fast asleep on the couch with the little kopiis snuggled around him. Once again she considered waking him up. But she figured he'd need all his strength for what he would have to do shortly, so she left him alone.  
Eris went straight to the Sairaag Tribune, showed them the paper that said she spoke for Rezo, and made about a million copies of each wanted poster. She needed them brought to her alive so she could kill them herself. Or maybe she would make Kopii do it. Offensive magic wasn't her specialty, after all. But she could definitely help with the torturing.  
On her way home, having rented a cart to carry all the posters back, Eris ran into Zangulus. He was just sauntering over to the market to stand around and perhaps get some work when he heard someone shout, "Hey you! Over there! With the weird hat!" Zangulus turned to offer her a rather miffed expression. Eris pulled up beside him.  
"Hey! You're the one who got the enchanted sword from Rezo, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Are you any good with it?"  
"Only the best," Zangulus said, grinning at his own ego.  
Eris smiled. This could prove useful.  
"I don't suppose that the best swordsman in the world would like to make some money, would he?" she asked enticingly.  
  
***  
  
So Eris and Zangulus returned to her house in the cart. Kopii was gone, but he had left a note saying that he was out making sure everything in Rezo's will was carried out. There should be plenty of money left for Eris and Kopii to live on. He would also get a map showing where all of Rezo's property was.  
Eris brought Zangulus inside with the originals of each of the posters. With a spell, she removed one of the Vrumugun kopiis from its tank, and cleaned, dried, and clothed it. Then she compelled it to come upstairs to join them. Zangulus raised his eyebrows, but when he saw the huge red jewel on Vrumugun's head, he realized that it must be one of his friend's kopiis. So this kopii wouldn't know him.  
Eris explained to Zangulus and the kopii that she wanted them to find the three people on the posters and bring them to her alive. Believing that they thought Kopii was Rezo, she didn't tell them what had happened the day before. She didn't realize that the kopii already knew. As she spoke, she transmitted the same information into the minds of the other kopii Vrumuguns so they would be prepared as well. She didn't expect the weak sorcerer's kopiis to last very long against people strong enough to kill Rezo-sama.  
She had used her magic to locate Lina and her friends, and they seemed to be heading towards Seyruun. So she sent out her two bounty hunters with a load of posters to spread generously around Seyruun and every other town on the way.  
Shortly after, Kopii returned. He silently handed her the map of Rezo's property and numerous deeds to it.  
"Kopii, I found a good excuse for you to practice your magic," she said, leading him back outside after putting the papers on the table. "I need to spread these posters all over to catch those monsters. I sent out that man Zangulus who you made a sword for and a Vrumugun kopii to hunt them down, but I want to make sure I get them. I want every bounty hunter, hero, knight errant, justice freak, soldier, guardsman, and anyone else out there to be on the lookout for them. Zangulus and kopii Vrumugun are headed for Seyruun, but I need posters everywhere else too. Can you do that?"  
"I… suppose so," said Kopii. "It may take a few days, though. I don't know how many times I can do it each day." He had felt strange ever since he woke up. As if he had been partially empty until today. It had to be something to do with Rezo's death. Maybe it was just that he was a step closer to being an individual.  
Kopii took a bundle of each poster and teleported himself to the most remote and far-off towns along the barrier. Eris took some and posted them in nearby towns, including Sairaag itself. After about four days, they had covered all the towns, large and small, inside the mazoku barrier.  
  
***  
  
Kopii had been pushing himself to the limits of his magic under Eris's guidance. She was trying to make him able to cast as many spells a day as he wanted, just like Rezo could. He was improving, but at far too slow of a rate for Eris. She needed revenge soon! So Kopii would have to find something that would boost his power and endurance considerably. Her machine in the lab would only give him strength for a short time. Maybe she could summon something really powerful to augment his strength. But what to use?  
Eris looked up from her research to watch Kopii. He was walking through the cluttered lab with his eyes closed. She noticed idly that he was doing a lot better than he used to. He looked so graceful. Almost Rezoesque… She shook herself mentally and went back to her reading.  
The obvious choice would be a mazoku or ryuuzoku. But after her encounters with Milgazia and Xellos, Eris was rather disinclined to trust either race. They hadn't lifted a finger to help Rezo-sama, after all. So she was looking up other creatures of power.  
The first things she found was an old story. In days of old, a great swordsman wielding the famed Hikari no Ken had risen up to slay the Demon Beast Zanafaar. This was a misnomer because Zanafaar was not a mazoku. The story said nothing about its origin, but further reading told Eris that it was probably an Overworld creature, or possibly and Underworld one.  
Just because a powerful creature was dead didn't mean it couldn't be summoned. Zanafaar was the most widely-researched creature that was not mortal, mazoku, or ryuuzoku, so Eris decided that it might be a good choice. But it would take some preparation. This was an enormously powerful creature, and it would be hard to bind such a beast to a person. So Eris started looking up binding spells. Nothing she was finding looked even remotely strong enough.  
"Hey Kopii," she said as he walked among glass tubes on the ground. "Do you know any really strong binding spells? Strong enough to bind something as strong as Shabranigdu to a person?" All the accounts said that Zanafaar was on a level with Shabranigdu when it came to strength.  
"I don't know," said Kopii doubtfully. "That'd be hard to do."  
"So you have no idea how someone could do it?" Eris asked.  
"The only thing I can think of would be to actually summon the Lord of Nightmares and request it. But that's not the safest thing to do either," he said, frowning. "Are you actually thinking of doing that!?"  
"I guess it's a possibility," Eris said. "Try to think of something else, though. Besides, you can't actually do that, can you?"  
Kopii was silent for a moment. "There is a spell. The Giga Slave. It summons the Lord of Nightmares into the spell-caster's body. It can kill anything and everything you could come up against. But if it goes out of control it can destroy the entire world, returning it to chaos. And it is very hard to control. I don't think I could even cast it at full strength."  
"Hmm…" Eris said, and sank deep into her own thoughts. Kopii kept walking around the glass-strewn floor, never touching a single piece.  
  
***  
  
Zangulus and kopii Vrumugun made their way to Seyruun fairly quickly, putting up posters in every town along the way. Zangulus had explained to the kopii that he had been friends with the original. The kopii was slightly more antisocial than the original, but after a while he warmed to Zangulus's outgoing friendliness. Unlike Kopii, he felt completely at peace with his original. He asked to be called Vrumugun and said that the others were likely to feel the same way. That was fine with Zangulus. It was much easier than the awkward way he felt he had to avoid any name at all at first.  
Upon arriving in Seyruun, Zangulus and Vrumugun met up with the princess who had seen their wanted signs. She had traveled with Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev, her body guard, for a while and was shocked to hear that her new friends were outlaws. Zangulus was very annoyed by her sudden rant about brining criminals to justice. But at least she didn't ask about what Lina had done. Zangulus really had no idea, though she sounded like a pretty nasty person.  
They captured Lina once, but she escaped. So Zangulus and Vrumugun chased her across the land. They sometimes recruited help from the locals, but they never caught her again. At least twice, Vrumugun was torn apart by a spell. The first time really upset Zangulus. But soon after, a new kopii appeared who felt much the same about things as the last one had. Zangulus had to coax this one into friendliness, but he had expected this. It amazed him to see their differences, though. One loved fish, and another refused to even look at it. One was even almost talkative once he got used to Zangulus. He really missed that one, who hadn't lasted long at all.  
But eventually, the two bounty hunters managed to chase Lina's group to Sairaag. They returned to Eris's house, which she had enchanted to make it look bigger and richer than the cozy little cottage it actually was. Eris had been making Kopii sit in her huge chair-machine to give him great strength temporarily. She also controlled him almost all the time, so he wasn't much of a conversationalist any more. Anyway, Lina and her friends were in Sairaag, and it was only a matter of time before they found their way to the house. Everyone in town knew where Eris and 'Rezo' lived, so Lina had only to ask. So the two humans and the two kopiis simply waited. It would not be long now… 


	17. The End?

Author's Note: Last chapter! Thanks so much for reviewing, everyone. You're all great! Again, I'm a bit fuzzy on exactly what happened when, but I did my best. Please don't be picky. This'll be long, but it'll be worth it! This is dedicated to Aloria because today's her birthday. Happy birthday, ALoria!  
  
Ramblings of the Doomed  
  
Chapter 17: The End?  
  
Kopii was tiring. Eris had made him spend the night in her revitalizing chair, but even with that, he was nearing his limit. Lina and her friends stood before him. The blue swordsman had leapt in to kill all of the Vrumugun kopiis at once, just when it seemed they would win. The tall blond swordsman called Gourry had fought Zangulus to a standstill. Lina and the short girl, Amelia, were facing Eris and her chimeras. And now the blue one faced Kopii himself, sword against staff. Eris was making Kopii fight, but he really didn't want to. He recognized that this was the boy he had talked about shaman magic with at the bar. And his friends called him Zelgadis… Rezo's great grandson! He said that he was sure Eris had helped make that body for him. So Rezo and Eris had turned Rezo's own relative into a chimera!? Kopii really wanted to stop now, but Eris wouldn't let him.  
Suddenly, Sylphiel came in. Kopii panicked, fearing he would have to fight her as well. Luckily, they ran after that.  
  
***  
  
Kopii sat weakly in the rejuvenation machine, pretending to be asleep. He heard Eris and Zangulus talking.  
"Is this what happens when he exerts himself a little? Your beloved 'Rezo?'" Zangulus asked, scornfully looking from Eris to the weakened Kopii. He and Kopii both knew that it was meant as an insult to Eris, not Kopii.  
"Get out," Eris said, gritting her teeth.  
"Don't worry, I'm going!" said Zangulus. He grinned at Kopii before leaving. Kopii didn't see it, but he could tell it had been done.  
Eris laid her head on Kopii's knees and started talking dreamily about her Rezo-sama. Kopii went to sleep, sickened.  
  
  
***  
  
Eris was trying to get Hikari no Ken from the blond swordsman to open Rezo's legacy, but Kopii faced them once more before it was opened. She never asked Kopii, who probably could have done it.  
But this time, Zelgadis launched an all-out charge at Kopii. Kopii was just barely able to block this. He felt something break on his forehead. To his surprise, Eris's headband fell to the ground. It revealed the rounded control gem on his forehead, convincing his opponents that he was indeed just a kopii, not the real Rezo. Shortly after witnessing him blow a huge crater in the city of Sairaag, they left again. Eris's control was not absolute anymore, but it was definitely still there.  
From here, Eris decided to let Lina get one step ahead of her. As she predicted, they got into Rezo's legacy in the old city with Hikari no Ken. Then Kopii led her and Zangulus to a large room deep inside. There were red busts of Rezo on each wall, which creeped Kopii out. Eris, on the other hand, loved them of course. They let Lina and her group wander around searching for the Legacy itself until they ran into each other again.  
When Lina's group finally found Kopii's again, Eris made sure they were separated. Seeing them all disappear, Zangulus ran to follow. He told Eris he'd choose his own path, and vanished into the teleportation square on the floor.  
"Your own path, hmm…?" Kopii mused aloud. Hmm indeed… Xellos had told him he'd know when to leave Eris. It seemed to him that the time was drawing near.  
Eris was sure now that the tablet that was Rezo's Legacy would bind the Demon Beast Zanafaar to Kopii perfectly. So they left Zangulus wherever he was, probably fighting Gourry, and went off to do just that.  
Kopii was silent as Eris cackled, going on and on about avenging Rezo-sama. He stood quietly as she used all her magical energy to raise the Demon Beast Zanafaar and bind it to him. But as Zanafaar entered Kopii's body, that changed. He suddenly felt so angry that he couldn't stand it. Eris was laughing. Lina's group stared up at him in horror. Just like his dream, ghostly dragon heads waved around him. He was acutely aware of the control gem on his head. It was holding him back, pinching his mind. Just like Eris! Just like Rezo!! He shattered it with the sheer force of his will. Eris laughed insanely. Lina and her group were shocked. His rage grew uncontrollable. All Eris's fault…  
He fired a magic bolt straight at Eris. She fell bleeding to the floor. He felt a frightening surge of satisfaction as he heard her murmur, "Oh Rezo-sama, where have you gone?" Then she was dead. He cackled with insane glee.  
Kopii himself was a little fuzzy on what was going on. He could hardly see, hear, or otherwise sense anything through this anger. He knew he had been angry, but not THIS angry! He vaguely heard himself tell Lina that to surpass Rezo, he had to kill her. She shouted that they would kill too many people if they fought where they were. In a rare moment of reason, he agreed. So he Ray Winged into the air, bringing his enemies in another Ray Wing. Then the anger overwhelmed him again. He blasted the whole city of Sairaag away and smirked at them. He heard Sylphiel scream. 'No, I don't want to do this!' he thought. But it was far too late.   
So they fought. So they fought. They put up a good fight, but they were no match for the combined powers of Kopii and Zanafaar. Sylphiel wouldn't let Lina cast the Giga Slave, which would have killed him. And Zanafaar was not stupid enough to let Hikari no Ken touch it again. Then he knocked out Lina! Zelgadis popped her and Sylphiel into a Ray Wing and quickly sent them far away. No matter. He could kill these three and go after the weaker two later. He toyed with Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia for a while. Amelia poked her finger at him and started calling him unjust. "It's not polite to point," he said with a smirk. He vaguely recalled hearing that before. Maybe she had even said it to him.  
Then Lina and Sylphiel were back, holing a big ornamental sword. Zanafaar laughed. Foolish mortals! As if anything less than Hikari no Ken could kill him! But they caught him by surprise and stabbed him to Flagoon.  
Zanafaar laughed once more. What would this do!? But then he felt the tree sucking at him, draining his strength to be its own. He screamed, and was gone.  
  
***  
  
They took Kopii down and laid him on the ground. He looked at their blurring faces with a sad expression.  
"I lost…" he murmured. "Was it because I was just a kopii? Please tell me."  
Lina bent over him. "No," she said sadly. "It was because you couldn't see what was in front of you."  
"Oh," said Kopii. The world was beginning to go dark around him. "What do you see, when you look so far ahead?"  
"A flower whose name I don't know yet!" said Lina, smiling at him.  
Kopii smiled slightly. Then Zelgadis spoke up.  
"What would you like us to put on your grace?" he asked. This was obviously another who had suffered at Rezo's hands. A kindred spirit who deserved a favor.  
"I want no gravestone," said Kopii. "But if you could, I'd like to be buried beneath Flagoon." His eyes closed. At last, he could be at peace. He knew no more after that.  
Lina, Zelgadis, Gourry, and Amelia were far too weak to dig right now. So they went to the next town to rest and eat, promising to return the next morning.  
  
***  
  
Kopii floated in blackness. He felt nothing except exhaustion. He knew that somewhere, he was in great pain. He was dying. Suddenly he heard soft footsteps approaching him. He lifted his head wearily to see… Rezo? The red priest was standing next to him. His eyes were open and they were a soft purple color, just like the kopiis' eyes.  
"Are you here for me?" Kopii asked. "Is this the afterlife?"  
Rezo smiled at Kopii. "Not quite, though it may be similar."  
"What's going on?" asked Kopii.  
"When I died, since I had managed to stop the harm I had awakened from being unleashed on the world, I was given a choice," Rezo said, frowning slightly. "I could move on and let the Lord of Nightmares judge me immediately, or I could stay with you for a time. Cepheid explained to me what was about to happen to you, so I thought perhaps I could help. I am here with the last of my strength. I can heal you and even allow you to have more magical strength. Then you can finally live your own life. Change your image, pick a name, and go live somewhere they've never heard of me."  
"You'd do all that for me?" Kopii asked incredulously. "I thought you didn't like me!"  
"I always wanted to talk to you more, Kopii. But by the time you came to be, it was already too late for me. I happened upon your thoughts while I was waiting here, Kopii. You're right, I never appreciated how much people cared for me until it was too late. Now, I don't have much time. Here," he said, offering his hand to Kopii.  
"But what will happen to you?" Kopii asked, worried.  
Rezo smiled again. "I'll go on then. I don't know what the Lord of Nightmares will do with me, but at least I got to help you before I left." He took Kopii's hand and Kopii felt Rezo's life force and power flowing into him, healing him. Rezo faded away more and more until he was just a red cloud that rose up into the air.  
"Wait! Rezo!" Kopii called, scrambling to his feet. The cloud was gone. The cloud was gone. Redness seemed to cover Kopii, though. The place where the Bless Blade had stabbed him itched terribly. But he was too sleepy to care. He fell fast asleep.  
  
  
***  
  
Kopii slept all day. Luckily for him though, so did Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Sylphiel. But about mid-morning, Zelgadis came alone to Flagoon. He planned to bury the body himself. So he was shocked to find Kopii fast asleep but breathing, the huge stab wound in his chest gone without a trace. He debated what to do for a moment. Then he went back to the town where the others slept. He had noticed a while ago that his bank account had grown tremendously all of a sudden. So he took out a large sum of money and went to the tailor's shop.  
"I need a set of clothing that would fit aka houshi Rezo," he said. Since the town was no near Sairaag, this tailor had made clothes for Rezo before.  
"What would you like, sir?" the tailor asked politely.  
"I don't know, it doesn't matter. Probably not red, though," said Zelgadis. "Try something like green, I guess. And gray."  
So the tailor made a nice Rezo-sized outfit with a green shirt, gray pants and cape, and leather boots. He had the beginnings of these already, so it only took a few hours since business was slow that day.  
Zelgadis took the clothing, paid for it, and brought it back to where Kopii lay under Flagoon. He set it in a neat pile beside his great grandfather's kopii. Then he put a note in one of the boots and left. When Lina woke up, he would tell her that he had buried the kopii himself, and they should move on.  
  
***  
  
Kopii woke up late in the afternoon to find a large butterfly resting on his nose. He blinked a few times and stared at it. It opened and closed its wings a few times before flying away. He sat up and put his had on a stack of clothes. What? He picked them up and realized that they were just his size. He quickly stripped off his old torn robes and put these new clothes on. They felt great! When he tried to put the boots on, he found a piece of paper in one. It was a note.  
  
Kage,  
I came to bury you but I saw that you were alive. So I thought you might like some different clothing. If you had anything to do with my mysterious riches, thank you. I will not tell Lina, because I hope to keep it for a while. I suggest you go find your own identity.  
-- Zelgadis.  
  
Kopii smiled, tucked the letter in his pocket, and set off in the direction of Rezo's house. He whistled slightly off-key as he walked. He was pretty sure he had left the house standing…  
As it turned out, the house was a big pile of rubble. Kopii quickly used a levitation spell to lift the debris off of the floor. He pocketed Eris's money when he found it. Finally, he got down to the floor, which at least protected the basement. He went down the stairs, hearing high-pitched cries of alarm. The little kopiis had all run to the basement to avoid getting crushed, and they rushed out to greed him now. He smiled at them. Then he looked up at Vrumugun. He teleported the mage out of the tank, cleaning and clothing him with the blink of an eye. While he explained everything to Vrumugun, he found his comb and green rubber band. He once more pulled his hair back into a ponytail. It had grown longer over time, as had Vrumugun's limp brown hair.  
Gathering up the 30 or so remaining kopiis, Kopii and Vrumugun went up the stairs and away from the rubble of the house.  
"Where will you go?" Kopii asked Vrumugun.  
"I will go to Seyruun," Vrumugun said. "I did not have a chance to visit the library there before. Then I may go try to find Zangulus again."  
"Here, take some money with you," Kopii said, pouring half of Eris's money into another sack. "Don't worry, it's Eris's. And you should take some kopiis, too."  
Vrumugun took the money, but then he hesitated. "The kopiis may not be a wise idea. And they may not wish to come with me."  
Hearing this, the kopiis all laughed. A few of them leapt from Kopii's head, shoulders, and arms to Vrumugun's cloak. They clung there and giggled at him. He smiled slightly back at them.  
"In that case, I would love to take some," he said, gathering them up to set them on his shoulders. Some climbed up to his head or into the neck of his cloak. "They will make my journey far more pleasant."  
So Kopii and Vrumugun parted ways with their kopiis. Kopii went to live in a small village near a forest right by the mazoku barrier. They had, of course, heard of Rezo, but it didn't matter. They were friendly, though he was shy at first. He spent most of his days healing people and occasionally protecting the village from raiders. He was well-known for his own deeds. He was completely at peace with Rezo now, and the whole world as well. Zangulus and Vrumugun came to visit him once, as did Zelgadis. Xellos even came to see how he was doing. They all commented on the great pleasure he seemed to get out of life, and they were right. He often dreamed of Rezo, who also seemed very happy.  
The tall kopii could often be seen running through fields or down hills. Sometimes the villagers said when he did this, a shimmering redness seemed to cling to him. When they told him this, he just smiled. "That's okay," he said. "He can come too."  
  
  
  
Endnote: I meant to kill off Kopii, but I got way too attached to him. I couldn't. He deserves a happy ending. So now he's around if I want to use him again. Does this beg for a sequel? Tell me what you thought. Thank you all for reviewing, you're wonderful! 


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